Dhabla shawls are a basic necessity in the rural life in the semi-desert land of the Rann of Kutch. The shawls are woven on a traditional pit-loom, by using both cotton and woollen yarn. A pre-planned designs is transferred on the loom with the help of threads. Then warp of the required colour is put on the loom with the aid of kanji (or starch). The number of yarn threads required by the design are tied and connected with pedals. When the pedal is operated, the particular warp thread comes up, making way for the weft thread to pass through the ruler. Thus, weaving is carried out by the application of a simple up-and-down technique. The colours commonly used include yellow, red, black, green, and orange. The rough wool collected from sheep is the prime raw material used by the Vankar community.
Tangali weaving is practised in the Surendranagar district in the Saurashtra region. Without any mechanical device, the design components are reinforced on the fabric itself in a unique manner. The design is embedded on the fabric by twisting loose white cotton or woollen yarn around a group of two or three warp threads and incorporating them into the fell of the cloth, giving a bead-like appearance on the surface.
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