The silk is cultivated at Bangalore, Karnataka State on the trees of mulberry. The mulberry silk moth produces best silk fiber. These fibers are very delicate and silky, silk fibers are twisted together. And in this way one silk thread is made. Silk threads are collected and hank is made. Hank is then washed and bleached and at the end of the process a reel is prepared.
The designs are drawn first on graph paper and then the yarn is tied as per design. The warp and the weft are tied separately. The workers tie sections of the silk threads until only the parts to be dyed remain exposed i.e. untied. The threads are then soaked in dye, than the cotton strings are removed to reveal the un-dyed portions. Portion that was used to absorb one color is tied again to protect while applying color on other portion. The process of tying and dyeing repeated several times to make different colors and patterns.
The natural dyes like catechu, cochineal, indigo, turmeric, Harde, madder roots, manjistha, ratnajyot, katha, kesudo, pomegranate skin, henna, marigold flower, etc. to display vibrant colors in the silk sari or fabric. Alum, copper sulphate, ferrous sulphate, tin chloride, potassium dichromate and other mordents are also used in the tedious dyeing process.
Rinse, repeat, until the threads are all dyed to get the design pattern.
Patola weaving depends on high accuracy of the weaving, that means positioning of the warp and weft will determine the weave of perfect design and color. The process is time and labor intensive, requires high order of skill.
On completion of dying process, the threads of the weft are wound on to bobbins and kept in the bamboo shuttle for weaving process on the handloom so that the design becomes visible made by tying and dyeing. The patola is woven on a handloom. The bamboo shuttle moves to and fro through warp and matched with it to make pattern or design complete.
The weaving can’t do in moist environment, because the yarn tends to tangle in moist. The Gujarati sensibilities also seeped into design, creating a unique aesthetic, reflected in the Patola.
Finally it is observed for quality and smoothness by weaver to make it elegant and exclusive Patola.