I have had my first Zoom meeting with Rajib Debnath and my organiser Joji. This was the first time we all met and actually saw each other! We went overtime and I had so many questions and learned so much in even this one relatively short meeting on an hour+.
Rajib is located in Kalna, about 3 hours north of Kolkata. By the way, Kolkata is pronounced KOL-kata – emphasis on the first syllable Kol. Not like the Western version (Calcutta) that has emphasis on the second syllable. Most of the weavers and their studios are within a 5 – 10 minute distance from the Hooghly river. This is needed for humidity. The cotton fibres are very fragile and if the air gets too dry, they will break. If you know about broken warp threads….. This is something I am familiar with as when I weave with my fine linen I use a humidifier in my studio. This is placed underneath the back warp section to keep the fibres pliable. It is only possible to weave early morning, or late afternoon/evening. During the day it is not possible.
Fine muslin needs long fibres and muslin Jamdani uses long-stapled cotton grown in the region and this cloth is called Khadi. Normal muslin uses a thread count of 500 and one hank is about 1000 metres. This muslin khadi is woven from hand spun cotton. For the Jamdani design mill spun cotton is used as it is stronger. Manipulating with a needle and pulling thread needs a stronger – though still fine – yarn.
In the screenshot below Rajib is showing me the unspun fine cotton used in the muslin.
