Woolen shawl of Gujarat have become very
popular throughout the country. Draftspersons of Kutch weave these shawls on
traditional pit or shuttle looms using Desi Marino and even acrylic wool. The
rough wool collect from the sheep is the prime raw material use by Vankar
community living in oasis like villages of kutch for developing there appealing
shawls. The raw wool is colored in vegetable dye in the desired print of both
wrap and weft threads. The shawls are uniquely woven with colors suitable for
modern city and export market.
Shri Damji Premji Vankar explores his families
weaving tradition from a perspective of design. With his alder brothers they
found Handloom Design Center in Bhujodi Village. They come from rich weaving
traditional. His father, Brothers, Brothers Wife’s is recognized as master
craftmen and have received national award. And his father also recognizes and
awarded as Shilp Guru.
They also able to dye his product in natural
color like vegetable dye. The technique he initiated has become the mainstream
with all the weavers. So he encouraged to have more varied and attractive hues
than limited color of Babul, Neem, Pine trees.
As year passed national and international market
brought home new design and experiment with new material also began. There are
many other products added to their list like mufflers, stoles, veils, cotton
yardage, etc. in silk weaving with vegetable dye with use of traditional and
contemporary designs. 