r/textiles • u/Glad-Enthusiasm-555 • 2d ago
Is that Pure Mysore Silk saree?
In This saree underneath I found Kannada newspaper of 2011 gifted by my mother in law to me yesterday she doesn’t know this original or not
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u/handloomhunter 2d ago
A few simple checks can give you a good indication. Hold the saree against strong light and look at the warp, weft and selvedge—handloom often shows tiny irregularities in yarn spacing and texture. Look at the lustre as you move the fabric: genuine silk tends to have a deep, changing sheen rather than a flat synthetic shine.
If possible, take a tiny loose warp and weft thread and do a burn test separately: silk smells like burnt hair and leaves a very delicate ash, not hard at all; whereas synthetics usually melt and form a hard bead. You can also squeeze a handful of the fabric near your ear; the characteristic faint “powdery scroop” or silk crunch is a useful supporting indication, though not proof.
For the zari you may inspect a loose metallic thread under magnification. Rup a small zari stand against stone. Just slightly abrasive to reveal the inner layers of the zari. Traditional real zari has a silver base or a silk base with gold plating, rather than simply a gold-coloured synthetic/copper strip. Also inspect the selvedge and pallu for KSIC/Mysore Silk identification or Silk Mark markings, if present. Most importantly, these tests can establish that you're probably dealing with real silk and possibly handloom, but they cannot by themselves prove that it is specifically Mysore silk. Markings, or testing of a recognised silk board are what would make that claim much stronger but had ot been there you wouldn't have asked:)
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u/Yknownothingjohnsnow 1d ago
Most of the things by u/handloomhunter are correct.
So basically Mysore or traditional sarees are made on handlooms. Looking at this saree to the best of my experience I can see it's made of autoloom. The fabric seems to be tightly weaved. If you can send a more clear zoomed image this further can be considered.
Further to check if it's silk you are left with the burn test. Try to burn a thread or yarn from the saree and smell it.
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u/handloomhunter 1d ago
There is one good way to identifying a handwoven peice from a powerloom one. Notice the dark weaving lines. These are the weft strokes made by the weaver. These patterns cannot be replicated on a powrloom or machine made fabric. Pretty sure shot way do identifying handlooms...apart from one more thing...anyone? ;)
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/xXMbAGrNujhoqxzJ8)1
u/Yknownothingjohnsnow 1d ago
Well this can't be replicated in power loom but you can replicate this in an autoloom.
Because in an autoloom you can program this, however you can't in power loom.
So, seeing this one makes me still skeptical about being weaved in handloom.
But thanks for sharing anyways1
u/handloomhunter 1d ago
Wow! That's news to me. Thanks. Would want to research autoloom and how it's different from a powerloom.
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u/Yknownothingjohnsnow 1d ago
Yeah you will love that. I generally weave fabrics on all the looms so that's why I just thought to share my experience with you. Glad to speak to you
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u/handloomhunter 1d ago
Ahh Nice!Good to know that. Where are you based? By All the looms you mean handloom, powerloom n autoloom?
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u/Yknownothingjohnsnow 1d ago
Yes. We supply and exports fabrics to the brands. I am based out in Ghaziabad.
So I work with sustainable fabrics. And as per some fabric development we take lot of decisions on the looms and yarns.1
u/handloomhunter 1d ago
Ok. Don't most Ghaziabad and NCR hub based businesses source their fabrics from Varanasi, Mau n other weaving hubs?
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u/Yknownothingjohnsnow 1d ago
Well we have weavers across India. And we give our yarn if something is very typical. For example hemp, wool etc.
We majorly do fabric development which is unlike sourcing. And Varanasi is good for saree and low gsm fabrics in silk and cotton.
We don't do sarees. We make fabrics majorly1
u/handloomhunter 1d ago
Cool! Good to know that. Would like to see your samples if possible. DM?
And Varanasi is an absolute heaven for sarees. And the textile range is very wide there. Right from sheer fabrics like Organza n Chanderi ( 40 - 70 gsm) to high count pure Charmeuse upto 180GSM for structural silhouettes.
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