Dhaka Production at WFN

We'd like to describe the process so that you can better understand what goes into making our products. First a word about why we produce dhaka: most women who sell goods through shops in Thamel receive a low percentage from shopkeepers. Often, this figure is as low as 5-10% of the net profit. This figure is offensively low, and therefore WF decided to open our own shop instead of selling through other shopkeepers.

Buying the Thread

The first step is buying the thread. WF buys uncoloured thread and now has the capacity to dye the thread for dhaka shawls.  This represents a reduction in expenses and also an opportunity for WF to generate income through the sale of dyed thread. WF plans to devote more resources to developing the sale of dyed thread locally in order to generate income to support the weaving process.

Warping the Looms

The second step is warping the looms, which actually happens in two stages. In the first stage, the various spools of thread, usually the same color but sometimes different colors, are loaded onto a wall-sized rack. All of the threads are attached to one large warping wheel that is hand-cranked. Then, while one person turns, others align the threads and make sure that they are lying in the correct position. In this way, all of the thread is spun onto the warping wheel.

With the thread properly loaded, the second stage of warping begins. Each loom has a long axle that holds the basic loom color, and dispenses it as the cloth is woven. Essentially, raw thread is fed from a dispensing axle and finished cloth is rolled onto a take up axle. In between the women weave the cloth.

So, in the second stage of warping, the thread that was rolled onto the warping wheel must be taken off, and loaded onto individual loom dispensing axles. Loading the dispensing axles is exactly like loading the warping wheel, except in reverse. The warping wheel is turned backwards while a dispensing axle takes up all the thread. When the dispensing axle is loaded, it is attached to the loom, and the loom is strung for weaving.

Weaving the Cloth

When a loom has been strung, it looks like a piano. The threads are stretched tight across a rack, giving the weavers a flat surface to work on. There are actually two levels of thread, one on top, and one an inch or two below. The weaver passes a "shuttle", a small piece of smooth wood with thread attached, between these two layers of thread. If she is making a pattern, she will manually loop thread through the stretched strings to create one "line" of the full pattern she is creating. Once the shuttle has been passed and any strings have been added to create a pattern, she pulls a large piece of wood down against the cloth to tighten the weave. As the cloth is woven, she rolls it onto a take up wheel at the base of the loom.

Cutting the Cloth

When the take up roll is full, it is taken off the loom and brought to another room where the cloth is cut apart. Between each "piece" of dhaka, the weaver leaves a small gap of unwoven string. This is cut in half, giving each piece of cloth its tasselled ends. The shawls retain these tassels in the finished stage.

Sewing the Cloth

Shawls and some other items do not require any sewing; they are finished when they come off the loom. However, many of our products do need to be sewn. The group of women who do the sewing is different from the warping and weaving group, but they have also been trained by WF. Many of the women who sew WF products have started their own businesses or work for a tailor, and are using their work experience as well as the skills they learned in training when making the final products.