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सूत्रायणHandloom · Art · Antiques · Home

Threads that remember.

Handwoven saris and textiles, paintings, antiques and pieces for the home. Each one chosen by hand, each with the story of who made it. Visit the studio in Jaipur, or ask for any piece on WhatsApp.

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A wooden handloom in a sunlit workshop, colourful striped cloth half woven
Hands tying the fringe of a handwoven rug
Fig. 1A wooden handloom in a sunlit workshop, the striped cloth half woven.

iThe studio

Sutrayana is a small studio for things made by hand in India: cloth woven on a loom, paintings painted stroke by stroke, and old objects that have already lived one life. We choose slowly, we tell you who made each piece and how, and we would rather you keep one thing for a lifetime than buy ten you forget.

A smiling woman weaver at work with thread in a carpet workshop
Fig. 2A weaver at a carpet workshop in Agra.

72%

of India's 35.22 lakh handloom weavers and allied workers are women.

Source: Fourth All India Handloom Census 2019–20, as stated in the Rajya Sabha, March 2020.

Behind most handwoven cloth is a woman's skill. Choosing handloom keeps that work valued, visible and paid for.

iiThe collection

Four rooms of one house.

Cloth from the loom, paintings for the wall, old things with a past, and the pieces that make a room feel lived in.

In the studio now

A sample of the catalogue. Photographs are stand-ins; names, details and prices are placeholders until the studio adds its own pieces.

Everything: 11 pieces shown

Folds of a deep red silk sari with a broad gold zari border
No. 01Handloom

Silk sari with a zari border

Handwoven silk · Silk and zari

Price on requestEnquire
A red and green cotton sari with small white motifs
No. 02Handloom

Red and green cotton sari

Handloom cotton · Cotton

Price on requestEnquire
Red silk with small silver motifs, a string of beads resting on it
No. 03Handloom

Red silk sari with silver butis

Handwoven silk · Silk

Price on requestEnquire
Lengths of indigo-dyed cloth hanging to dry
No. 04Home

Indigo resist-dyed cotton

Resist-dyed by hand · Cotton, indigo

Price on requestEnquire
A stack of four patterned cushions in red, blue and saffron
No. 05Home

Cushion covers, set of four

Handmade · Cotton

Price on requestEnquire
Seven small unglazed terracotta vases of different shapes
No. 06Home

Terracotta bud vases, set of seven

Hand-thrown clay · Terracotta

Price on requestEnquire
Three unglazed terracotta pots with ridged sides
No. 07Home

Terracotta pots, set of three

Hand-thrown clay · Terracotta

Price on requestEnquire
An old lamp of turned wood and brass with a spout near its base
No. 08Antiques

Brass and wood lamp

Turned wood and brass · Brass, wood

Age and condition: [to confirm]

Price on requestEnquire
A brass oil lamp with a long spout, curled handle and engraved body
No. 09Antiques

Ornamented brass oil lamp

Cast and decorated brass · Brass

Age and condition: [to confirm]

Price on requestEnquire
Stand-in image: Gaudi Ragini, a woman with peacocks in a garden, Rajasthan, c. 1780 to 1800
No. 10Art

Ragamala miniature

Gum tempera, ink and gold on paper · Paper

Stand-in image: Gaudi Ragini, c. 1780–1800, Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access

Price on requestEnquire
Stand-in image: Gunakali Ragini, women seated in a pavilion, Sirohi, Rajasthan, 1675 to 1725
No. 11Art

Ragamala miniature

Colour on paper · Paper

Stand-in image: Gunakali Ragini, 1675–1725, Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access

Price on requestEnquire

iiiLook closer

How to recognise true handloom.

Move the glass across the cloth. Four things to look for before you buy any handwoven piece, from us or from anyone else.

General guidance, drawn from Mavuri: real vs fake handloom and Online Clothing Study: recognising handloom.

Close view of a red and green cotton sari with small white motifs
Fig. 3A red and green cotton sari with small white motifs. Detail 1 of 4: motifs that are not identical.

ivThe dye room

Colours from the earth.

Before synthetic dyes, every colour on Indian cloth came from a leaf, a root, a fruit or iron. Scroll through four of the oldest, and the shades a dyer draws from each.

Long hanks of brightly dyed yarn drying in rows in the sun
Fig. 4Freshly dyed yarn drying in the sun before it is woven into saris.

नील

nīl

i

Indigo

Leaves of the indigo plant, Indigofera tinctoria

The leaves are steeped and fermented into a vat. Cloth comes out of it green-yellow and turns blue only as it meets the air. For centuries India supplied much of the world's indigo.

  • one dip
  • five dips
  • ten dips
  • many

मंजिष्ठा

manjiṣṭhā

ii

Madder

Roots of Indian madder, Rubia cordifolia

With an alum mordant the roots give a bright, warm red. With iron, the same dye bath turns a deep purple-black. It is among the longest-lasting reds.

  • light
  • alum
  • strong
  • with iron

हल्दी

haldī

iii

Turmeric

The root of Curcuma longa

A bright, warm yellow that every Indian kitchen knows. It is the least lasting of the classic dyes: yellows fade faster than reds and blues.

  • pale
  • bright
  • deep
  • aged

हरीतकी

harītakī

iv

Myrobalan and iron

Fruit of the haritaki tree, with iron

Rich in tannin, myrobalan prepares cotton to hold other dyes. Brought together with iron it gives soft greys and the deep blacks of hand block printing.

  • tannin
  • grey
  • slate
  • black

Dye notes drawn from Garland Magazine on Indian natural dyes and Jamini: the art of natural dyeing in India. Swatches are illustrations of each dye's range.

vOld things

Antiques, honestly described.

An old lamp or a weathered chest carries a life before yours. We write down what we know of it, and what we do not, before you decide.

A small green wooden window set in a sunlit ochre wall
Fig. 5A green wooden window in an ochre wall.
An old lamp of turned wood and brass
No. 08Brass and wood lamp. Age and condition: [to confirm]
  • iIts age, as far as it can be known
  • iiWhere it came from, when we know
  • iiiIts condition, and every repair
Ask for the antiques list

viThe makers

Made by many hands.

Weavers, spinners, dyers, potters and painters. Behind every piece is a person and a place, and we pass their story on with it.

A weaver at his loom, a black and white pattern growing on the cloth
Fig. 6The pattern grows one throw of the shuttle at a time.
A weaver working at a large loom in warm evening light
Fig. 7Evening light in a weaving workshop.
Women spinning yarn on a large wooden wheel outdoors
Fig. 8Spinning yarn on a great wheel.
A potter's clay-covered hands shaping a pot on a spinning wheel
Fig. 9A potter's hands at the wheel, Kumbharwada, Mumbai.
A wooden shuttle resting on half-woven white cotton on a loom
[Founder's portrait]

viiA note from the studio

Sample text, to be written with the founder

Dear friend,

I started Sutrayana because the most beautiful things I owned were made slowly, by people whose names I knew. Here you will find cloth that came off a loom, paintings made by hand, and old objects that have already lived one life.

Ask me anything about a piece: where it came from, how it was made, how to care for it. I would rather you buy one thing you love for life than ten you forget.

[Founder's name]

viiiHow to buy

Three messages, and it is yours.

No account, no cart. Just a conversation, the way buying something beautiful should feel.

  1. 1

    Send us the piece

    A screenshot or the piece number on WhatsApp is enough.

  2. 2

    See it in daylight

    We reply with close-up photos or a short video, and the price.

  3. 3

    Pay, and we pack it

    Wrapped in cotton and shipped across India [and abroad, to confirm].

Start on WhatsApp

  • Studio visits

    By appointment, so the studio is yours for the hour.

  • Trousseau and gifting

    Saris and pieces chosen together for weddings and family occasions.

  • Styling for homes

    Textiles, art and old pieces chosen for a room, a home or a hotel.

ixWords

From the people who keep them.

Real words from the studio's collectors appear here, always with their permission.

[A collector's words about a piece they bought, used with permission]
[Name], [City]
[A collector's words about a piece they bought, used with permission]
[Name], [City]

xCare and questions

Made to last, with a little care.

Handwoven cloth grows softer and richer with use. A few habits keep it that way for generations.

Dry-clean silk and zari for the first few washes. Air it in the shade after wearing, store it wrapped in soft cotton or muslin rather than plastic, and refold it along new lines every few months so the folds do not weaken the threads. Keep zari away from perfume.

Wash it by hand in cold water with a mild soap, separately for the first few washes, and dry it in the shade. Handloom cotton softens beautifully with every wash.

No. Slight variations in the weave or in a natural dye are the mark of hand work. We point out anything that is a real flaw before you buy.

Yes. Ask on WhatsApp and we will send close-ups or a short video in daylight, so you see the true colour.

[Shipping countries, costs and times, to confirm with the studio.]

How do I care for a handloom silk sari?

Dry-clean silk and zari for the first few washes. Air it in the shade after wearing, store it wrapped in soft cotton or muslin rather than plastic, and refold it along new lines every few months so the folds do not weaken the threads. Keep zari away from perfume.

Ask us anything else

xiVisit

Come and touch the cloth.

Handloom is best understood in the hand. Visits are by appointment, so the studio is yours for the hour.

Visits by appointment

The studio
[Studio address], Jaipur, Rajasthan
Hours
[Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm], by appointment
Call or WhatsApp
[+91 00000 00000]
Email
studio@sutrayana.example
Book a visit on WhatsApp
MapJaipur. The pin moves to the studio's address once it is confirmed.