Indian Premium Silk
KETYA PEACE SILK
Ketya Ahimsa Silk is a fabric native to the Indian state of West Bengal. It has a unique and coarse tactile textue due to varieties of yarns like Matka, Khadi, Tussar being woven into the raw coarse fabric. This produces a wonderfully rich texture.
ORIGIN OF KETYA AHIMSA SILK
Ketya is an Ahimsa Silk fabric that originated from West Bengal, India. It is basically rough handloom fabric made by weaving yarns spun out of broken waste or leftover fibres from hatched Tussar silkmoth cocoons along with yarn like Tussar, Matka Ahimsa Silk or Khadi, as warp and weft or vice-versa in a handloom. Spun by hand, it is indigenous to a town called Bishnupur, and the district of Murshidabad. Ketya Silk material is very rare outside of Bengal.
INTRODUCTION
The main component of Ketya is the waste/leftover broken fibres from the hatched cocoons of Tussar silkmoth (Antheraea millita), which is handspun into yarn to make the fabric. A variety of other yarns like Matka, Cotton, Khadi, Tussar may be woven into the raw coarse fabric either in the warp or weft. As a result, it produces a wonderfully rich texture which is very unique. Ketya Silk is an Ahimsa Silk (or peace silk) as it is made of leftover fibres from cocoons that the moths were allowed to hatch from.
Anuprerna is currently working with about 10 textile weavers from Ketya Silk Weavers' Cluster located in the Birbhum district.
PROCESS OF MAKING KETYA SILK
CHARACTERISTICS OF KETYA AHIMSA SILK FABRIC
Silk is a low-waste fibre, to begin with. Ketya, like Matka silk, is also cruelty-free as it's made from short broken fibres of hatched cocoons. And therefore, similarly to the Matka silk, it too is essentially upcycled silk.
The fabric has a coarse visual and tactile feel. While the main component in Ketya fabric is the coarse silk yarns, it may also have other varieties of yarn woven along with either in the warp or weft accordingly. Due to this, Ketya fabric displays desirable characteristics of its constituents. For example, it has the sheen and lustre like Tussar, whereas, like cotton, Ketya possesses strength and durability. As a low-density material, it makes for a light and comfortable clothing. Besides all this, it also results in Ketya's economic price.
Depending on the composition of the Ketya silk, the material’s thickness can be adjusted and the resultant fabric can be used to make different items.
It is, thus, preferred by many for its versatile and desirable properties.
Team Anuprerna
