Pochampally fabric makes a style statement

Pochampally handloom fabric is currently the in thing.Urban women are evincing interest in Pochampally sarees and dress material, which are available in vibrant colours and attractive designs to face the summer season with the coolant cottons. The handlooms, which are famous for their geometrical patterns in Ikat dyeing style, have won the hearts of not only middle aged women for the soothing comfort they give to the wearer in the hot summer, but have also attracted young college girls who are pairing the fabrics with jeans, salwars and using as stoles.

The fabric has become a style statement after Air India stewardesses donned the specially designed Pochampally sarees. Not just that. The new trends of Pochampally handlooms have come up with a wide range of fashion accessories like normal pouches, mobile carriers, tote and picnic bags. The handloom fabrics with intricate geometric designs are also being increasingly used for home decor and bed linen now.

“The unique Ikat art of Pochampally is a process of resist dyeing with a sequence of wrapping and dyeing sections of bundled yarn to get a predetermined colour pattern prior to weaving. The phases of producing the fabric include graphing a design and dyeing it. After that, it is sent for jointing and warping. Later, the raw material is put on the loom for weaving. After the fabric is weaved, it goes under the scrutiny for tiny weaving faults.

After that only, the handloom fabric is ready for marketing,” said Bharata Lava Kumar, director of Pochampally Handloom Park.“We acquire cotton yarn from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The cotton, silk and sico - a mix of exquisite silk and cotton - are used to produce fabrics of different shades and texture. The colours used for Pochampally handloom fabrics are natural dyes and their blends,” he added.

A Handloom Mela of Pochampally Ikat Art is under way at Sri Vidya Sadan Function Hall, where a wide range of silk and cotton saris in exquisite designs, dress materials, kurthis, dupattas, cotton shirts, table mats, covers, bed linen and handbags are on display. The price range of Pochampally handloom products at the mela, which will be on till Monday, lies between Rs 150 and Rs 37,000.

By Ch Sowmya Sruthi