Asian Journal of Home Science

Lalita Rani ¹, Kanwaljit Brar ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Apparel and Textile Science, College of Home Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), IN

Abstract

Punjab has a rich tradition of arts and crafts. The traditional handicrafts of different types made from plant waste materials available in their vacinity were used in every household during the pre-independence period. Doaba and Majha were faster to adapt to the modern life style, while Malwa region with low literacy level continued with the traditional ways of life as well as craft making. But over the last two decades practice of handicraft making had sharp decline even in Malwa region. Thus, to document the valuable basketry craft, a sample of 180 respondents of rural women comprising of 60 women from each of the three selected districts of Malwa region namely, Ludhiana, Patiala and Bathinda, who had developed traditional handicrafts in their life-time was selected purposively. Older women were found to have made fifty or more traditional handicrafts from plant and agro-waste materials in their lifetime. All women used to carry out different activities of practicing craft in their leisure time such as spinning yarn on Charkha, weaving basketry products like Bohey/Chhikkoo, Katnee(s), etc. and embroidering the Phulkaris or baghs. The largest percentage of respondents (28.89%) had made Bohey/Chhikkoo followed by 19.45 per cent respondents who had made Chhabi(an) from plant and waste materials. None of the respondents was now found to be making these handicrafts for domestic use.

Keywords

Traditional Handicrafts, Agro-Waste Materials.

Full Text

     

Lalita Rani ¹, Kanwaljit Brar ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Apparel and Textile Science, College of Home Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), IN

Abstract

The present study focused on the production process of bohey/chhikkoo the traditional handicrafts of Punjab, as these handicrafts are vanishing fast due to commercialization and changes in fashion trends. In rural Punjab, basketry weaving was mainly practiced by women to meet the domestic needs. In fact, the girls were taught to make basketry products at a very young age to prepare these as part of their trousseau. But during the present time, technological developments have made available the various types of durable and easy to care containers and baskets suitable for various end-uses at very affordable prices. As a result the traditional crafts of Punjab are fast losing their distinct individuality in terms of designs and raw materials being used for these. It is imperatives to document type of raw materials and tools that were used for making bohey/chhikkoo and their production process to preserve the traditional handicrafts for the posterity. A sample of 180 respondents of rural women, comprising of 60 women from each of the three selected districts of Malwa region namely, Ludhiana, Patiala and Bathinda, who had developed traditional handicrafts in their life-time, was selected purposively. The results showed that the presently only 13.88 per cent respondents were still practicing this craft, but made the basketry products only occasionally. Efforts in the direction of commercials of the basketry craft of Punjab need to be undertaken for the survival of this beautiful craft as been successfully done for the phulkari craft.

Keywords

Bohey/Chhikkoo, Production Process, Raw Materials, Traditional Handicrafts.

Full Text

     

Mandeep Kaur ¹, Kanwaljit Brar ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Apparel and Textile Science, College of Home Science,Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), IN

Abstract

The present study inspired from the wall paintings of Shekhawat, a semi-desert area in Rajasthan, the investigation entitled “Development of pouches using motifs from Shekhawati paintings” was carried out in Ludhiana city. Out of twenty developed designs of pouches with Shekhawati motifs, ten designs of pouches most preferred by the respondents were prepared. Evaluation of the prepared pouches was done by a sub-sample of thirty respondents. The most preferred pouch on the basis of Shekhawati motifs and designs was C₃ with geometrical motif (mean score 8.5). Colour combination of pouch B₄ (mean score 6.93), and embellishments of A₁ (mean score 6.93) and overall appearance of C₃ (mean score 8.9) were most preferred by the respondents. The quoted prices for the prepared pouches B₄,A₂ and E₃ were found to be adequate with profit margin of 32.04, 30.43 and 28.34 per cent, respectively.

Keywords

Shekhawati Motifs, Pouches, Product Development, Painting, Profit.

Full Text

     

Mandeep Kaur ¹, Kanwaljit Brar ¹, Harminder Saini ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Apparel and Textile Science, College of Home Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), IN

Abstract

The present study on preferences of young women for designing of pouches using Shekhawati motifs was carried out in Ludhiana city. Twenty shapes of pouches were sketched and five shapes were finally selected for designing pouches. A line of twenty pouches using Shekhawati motifs was developed using CorelDrawX4. Preferences of ninety young women, representing the target segment of consumers selected purposively from three localities of Ludhiana city were taken. Women preferred polyester fabric (mean score 4.23) for pouches. Silver and golden colours were most preferred with mean scores 4.34 and 3.14. Respondents preferred multi-coloured combination for motifs (mean score 2.67). Amongst the embellishments, tassels were most liked for pouches with mean score 12.28. Out of twenty developed designs of pouches with Shekhawati motifs, most preferred ten designs of pouches were prepared.

Keywords

Preferences, Young Women, Designing, Pouches Using, Shekhawati Motifs.

Full Text

     

Himani Bhardwaj ¹, Kanwaljit Brar ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Apparel and Textile Science, College of Community Science, Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana (Punjab), IN
2 Department of Apparel and Textile Science, College of Community Science, Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana (Punjab), IN

Abstract

The investigation was carried out to design a line of tunics inspired from inlay work. Acceptance of respondents for prepared tunics was studied. Based on the preferential choices of the girls, six tunics were prepared using inlay motifs were rendered through machine embroidery. Evaluation of designed tunics was done by a sub-sample of thirty respondents. The most preferred tunic on the basis of silhouette was D5 (Mean score 4.6) which obtained first rank. Tunic D8 (mean score 5.2) was most preferred for the embellishments used. Both D5 and D8 tunics were most preferred for overall appeal. Quoted selling price of prepared tunic D5 was observed as adequate by most of the respondents (76.67 %). Probable profit margin possible on selling tunics were estimated from minimum 20.40 per cent to maximum 26.67 per cent. Mass production of tunics can reduce the cost of production.

Keywords

Tunic, Inlay work, Motifs, Preferences, College-going girls

Full Text