Ayurvastra Fabrics

From fiber to finished fabric, our process is empowered by the wisdom of Ayurveda, zero-waste, chemical-free, and entirely handmade.

No mechanization is used at any point during the process from spinning hanks into threads, botanical and medicinal herb dyeing, setting up the looms, to weaving the fabrics.

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Our light, airy, soft, and healing cotton muslins are available to buy wholesale in 5 meter increments.

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The AyurSatwa Difference

Four distinct factors distinguish our healing textiles from other handloom fabrics:

The purpose of our fabrics is to support healing and wellness. Our botanical dye baths are infused with Ayurvedic herbs and charged with an invocation of the sacred Gayatri mantra.

This enhances the healing qualities of our fabrics and offers blessings for the makers and wearers of the the cloth.

Unlike most other handloom fabrics, the thread for not just the weft, but also the warp is hand-dyed. This delivers richer, even color across the length and width of the fabric.

Our fabrics are never dip-dyed.

All our fabrics are woven by hand on traditional handlooms. No mechanization is used at any point in our process.

To support the well-being of our weavers, we always commit to producing a quantity of at least 100 meters per color. We offer these fabrics to you at wholesale prices in 5 meter increments.

We use extremely fine threads for the weft. Because the threads are so fine, they must be spun and transferred onto spools by hand.

The fineness of the threads directly contributes to the extremely soft, airy feel of the fabric that pampers your skin.

The Process

We believe that meaningful beauty is created by the purity of the raw materials, and the dignity and integrity of our process.

From Raw Cotton to Botanical and Medicinal Dyed Yarn

Pure, organic cotton fiber that is free from GMOs and pesticides is spun by hand on charkhas into yarn. These yarns are delivered to us so we can dye and infuse them with our signature tridoshic kashayam of Ayurvedic medicinal plants and herbs. Every dye bath is charged with an invocation of the sacred and powerful Gayatri mantra.

The dyeing of the yarns takes a full day which includes the dyeing process, kashayam infusion, and triple washing the yarns to minimize fading. Learn more about our dyeing process here.

From Yarn to Thread

A yarn is transformed into thread by taking two or more yarns and twisting them together to make thread that can be used for weaving.

Our muslin fabrics are made with 2/60s thread for the warp and 80 single for the weft. A total of 10kg of thread is required to weave approximately 120 meters of our ayurvastra muslin fabric.

The process of turning yarn into threads is done entirely by hand and no mechanization is used at any point. This is a laborious process that cultivates and requires tremendous patience.

To spin yarn into the threads used for the warp, takes about 1 day to process 7.5 kg of yarn. For the weft, which is a finer thread, it takes 2 days to process 2.5 kg of yarn into thread.

Warp

For a width of 44 inches, it takes about 4,000 individual threads to create the warp for the fabric.

Setting up the warp onto the loom requires each thread to be passed through an eyelet and then through the comb by hand. This process requires 2 skilled weavers and takes a full day's work.

Because setting up the warp on the loom is a laborious and time-consuming process, most handloom fabrics use a white or natural color thread for the warp. Colored thread is only used for the weft. This allows for many different colored fabrics to be woven without the laborious process of changing and setting up the warp repeatedly. While this reduces the overall cost, it also delivers more muted shades.

At AyurSatwa, we weave our fabrics with dyed threads for both the warp and the weft. Though this means that there is more labor required for every color, our fabrics are distinguished by bright, vibrant shades of plant dyes, with even coloring across the the fabric and more healing power in every square inch.

Weft

The soft, airy feel of the fabric is attained by the very fine threads used for the weft. Once the thread for the weft is ready, it must be wound onto pirns that are attached into the wooden shuttles that are used during weaving.

While many handloom initiatives use mechanized pirn winding machines to make this process easier, it’s not possible for our ayurvastra muslin fabrics. This is because the thread for the weft is extremely fine and the pirns are made of wood and if done by machine, both the thread and the pirns will break.

Once the threads for the warp have been set on the loom, and the weft has been wound onto pirns and attached into the wooden shuttle, the fabric is ready to be woven.

Weave

Traditional looms are powered by foot and pedal. The pedals move alternating warp threads up and down to allow the shuttle with the weft to pass through. After each pass, the weaver moves the pedals with his feet, and the threads are woven into fabric.

As the warp and weft are woven into fabric, it is wound on a cylinder that is held in place in front of the weaver. As the woven fabric is turned around the cylinder, it gains volume. Up to 15 consecutive meters can be woven at a time; more than this doesn’t leave room for the weaver to reach the shuttle that needs to be passed back and forth.

As the shuttle moves back and forth through the warp, the sounds of clacking and pedaling produce a soothing rhythm. The balanced rhythm and speed is learned by weavers and mastered over time, honing knowledge to become wisdom.

For any given fabric, AyurSatwa makes a commitment to the weavers to produce a minimum of 100 meters at a time. This commitment allows the weavers to work with confidence and security. This 100 meters is produced in bundles of up to 15 meters at a time.

Our fine ayurvastra muslin fabrics are available to you to buy at wholesale rates in increments of 5 meters.

The AyurSatwa Muslin