

CHAPTER I . WOVEN TEXTILES
Khadi

“This is sacred cloth.”
Mahatma Gandhi
KHADI: MUCH MORE THAN A FABRIC
Khadi is any cloth that is hand spun and hand woven. A 5,000-year-old craft that Mahatma Ghandi rekindled in India about 100 years ago. In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi started his movement for Khadi when spinning and weaving were elevated to an ideology for self-reliance and self-governance.
Khadi became not only a symbol of revolution and resistance, but also the face of an Indian identity! It marked the start of a democracy in the true sense.
Mahatma Gandhi, who always wore Khadi, called it the “fabric of Indian independence.” He championed and supported the resurgence of Khadi to relieve poverty in villages across the country.
Khadi is much more than a fabric. It is a thought, an idea to unite a community and create a sustainable economic opportunity for everyone within the community. Khadi means jobs for everyone: it is the fabric of the revolution.
Irregularities are always to be found throughout a length of Khadi. Defects derived from human hands - this is the beauty of Khadi! It is this handmade quality of the cloth, with its inherent story of human energy.