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Our recent collection of hand-quilted quilts/bed-spreads are designed and crafted by the women of Dambal, a small village in North Karnataka.

The women-folk of Dambal have been traditional quilters for generations. These enterprising women travel to nearby cities periodically and collect worn-out clothes and sarees from various houses and convert them into quilts and give them back to their respective owners and earn their living. Each woman has her territory in the nearby city to collect the waste textiles and seldom trespass with others.

We have been providing these craftswomen with some of our sarees, and textile bits that were...

When the cotton is grown without harsh chemicals and fertilizers, not only more landmass becomes organically fertile but also helps in reducing the production of chemicals in factories. In turn, it improves the health of the producer and buyer. Organic farming supports you.

During the spinning of cotton either by hand or with marginal energy, the yarn produced or the textile made with it on locally made wooden looms, requires nil energy. This handmade industry decreases fossil fuel exploitation. So, nature and energy are conserved better to support you.

The handmade sector employs many unseen hands, and weaving requires the...

Is selling less sustainable? Does working with handloom, natural dyes, organic cotton alone makes us sustainable? Are mending and second-hand purchase the definition of sustainability? Does consistent work for the entire value chain with fair wages the sustainable mantra? Is less carbon footprint in producing and selling a sustainable goal?

'Semantic satiation' is a phenomenon whereby repeated use of certain words results in losing their meaning. For instance, the word 'green', is hastily interpreted as the environment and when left to a person to act on it, leads nowhere. Similarly, the liberal use of the word sustainability is too stretchy...

Covid and its restrictions have resulted in many old and new businesses going online. At Metaphor Racha, we have been offering our work through our website for the past 5 years and have seen its benefits and challenges. Here are some of the reasons why we are online.

-In an age, when people search for their needs digitally, having a website allows us to be found easily. The set-up and running cost of a website is lesser than that of a physical store. Also, an e-store business can be operated from anywhere yet reaching new customers worldwide.

-Unlike stand-alone stores and exhibits,...

The fabric you notice in the image is ambara charaka spun cotton and handwoven way back in 2016 at a large village called Shirahatti in north Karnataka. The azo-free colours blue and red were dyed by Amarappa, at an inconspicuous small hamlet called Shirola. We converted this fabric into womenswear, which was well received.

Stay with me as I am going to try and explain the textile design here.

Generally, the weavers of north Karnataka do not involve in the warping process. Hence, most cooperative societies employ a different person for warping. Mr Kotreshi was this warping person for the Shirahatti co-op...