Eri silkworms are mostly fed on naturally grown castor leaves, free from chemicals to keep the silk as pure as possible. They then spin soft, open-ended cocoons and gently emerge as moths, making the process completely cruelty-free.

Once the moths emerge naturally, the empty cocoons are carefully collected, making Eri silk a peaceful and cruelty-free alternative. That’s why it’s also called non-violent silk, Ahimsa silk, or Peace Silk.

The cocoons are gently boiled with natural ingredients to remove the gummy layer that holds the fibers together. Traditional tools like the Takuri (a hand spindle) is then used to spin the silk by hand.

The yarn is dyed using a variety of techniques, most often with natural ingredients like turmeric, indigo, mango leaves, and marigold, among many others.

After spinning, the yarn is wound onto small cylindrical bobbins using a traditional tool that works like a bicycle. This helps prepare the yarn evenly for weaving on the handloom.

The yarn from the bobbins is then stretched into long, aligned bundles to create the warp, making it ready for a smooth setup on the loom.

The warp threads are carefully wrapped onto the loom’s beam, making sure they’re aligned and held at the right tension. Once that’s done, each thread is tied by hand to prepare for the weaving process.

Designs are made by punching holes into cardboard templates, which are then linked together in a sequence. These templates guide the warp threads during weaving to create intricate patterns.

After the warp is rolled onto the beam, each thread is individually passed through the heddles (vertical wires that control up/down movement) and then through the reed (a comb-like structure that keeps threads spaced evenly).

After the warp (lengthwise threads) is loaded onto the handloom, the weavers interlace the weft yarn (crosswise threads) with the warp creating the fabric structure.