Kalimpong-Nettle fibre Jacket – handwoven by Khambu Rai community in Darjeeling

Nettle is an eco-friendly fibre, characterised by its flexibility and excellent tensile properties. The thread is from the Himalayan giant nettle plant (Urtica dioica), that grows at 1,200 – 1,600 metre above sea level. Its moisture content imparts effective insulating capacity to the fabric or the end-products, made with this fibre. During the 2nd World War, nettle fabric was used to line the jackets of the soldiers so that they could be protected from the cold. In Sittong village of Kurseong in Darjeeling two families are hand-spinning yarn, and fabric is woven in very small quantity in the Dooars area. Biswa Bangla visited these indigenous people and worked closely with the Khambu Rai Board in Darjeeling. The yarns of nettle fibre have been introduced in linen and cotton sarees. Fabric has also been developed with Nettle fibre to produce various products like handwoven and handcrafted jackets, scarves. The initiative that started with two families are expanding in leaps and bounds creating livelihood for many families in the area.

Care Instruction: Dry Clean Only

Do not squeeze or wring

Colour and Texture of the product may slightly vary than that in the photograph.

May have slight irregularity which is characteristic of any hand-woven, hand-embroidered or hand-crafted product. Connoisseurs worldwide love handmade products, more because of these small variations in a regular pattern as that adds to the unique charm of these products which are missing in machine-made products.

Missing yarn, slobs and uneven yarn contrasts are general phenomena in hand-woven products. This is a natural outcome and inherent characteristic of the hand-weaving procedure which makes the product all the more unique and beautiful.