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About Us |
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Ghayur Alam has a Ph.D from the University of
Manchester, UK, in management. His interests include
mountain agriculture, rural development and the use of
environmentally friendly technologies.
alamcsd@gmail.com
Patricia Alam has been living in India since 1983. She
taught Drama in the UK and the British School in Delhi
before settling in Masrana. Patricia1@csduttaranchal.org
We live 8 kilometers out of Mussoorie in Masrana village
on the Mussoorie-Dhanaulti Rd. This is a very beautiful
area, with views of the Himalayan peaks all along the
road.
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We produce hand-woven shawls, stoles, scarves and throws using only natural dyes and hand-spun wool, eri silk and pashmina.
Our products can be purchased online. We also have shops in Mussoorie and Dehradun. The Mussoorie shop is on the Mussoorie-Dhanaulti Road (Phone: 0135-2115282). The Dehradun shop is in Rajpur Village ( Phone: 0135-2733113). We are also interested in selling to wholesalers and retailers who deal with eco friendly products and practise fair trade.
Located on the Mussoorie-Dhanaulti Road, Himalayan
Weavers was set up by Ghayur and Patricia Alam in 2005.
We use sheep wool, silk and pashmina to produce and
market shawls, stoles, scarves and throws. Our
objectives include: produce high quality handloom
products, popularize the use of environmentally friendly
natural dyes and provide a market for craft products
made in the Himalayan region.
Himalayan Weavers’ products are
different:
Firstly, all products are environmentally friendly as
they are made using only natural fibres and natural
dyes. The dyeing is done in-house and we guarantee that
our products do not contain any chemical colours. A
number of naturally occurring materials are used, most
of which are plants. These include madder, tesu, indigo,
pomegranate, harada, henna and lac.
Secondly, most of the yarn used by Himalayan Weavers is
hand spun. This gives a very special soft feel and also
provides increased employment opportunities for local
people.
All the products are
hand-woven.
We work with about 20 local people, 11 of whom belong to
the “Bhotia” and “Shilpkar” tribal communities. These
people have a long tradition of working with wool,
making blankets and carpets for personal use. We began
with the objective of providing greater access to market
for their products. However, it was soon realized that
though interesting, these products could not have a
large market in urban areas; made with coarse wool, they
were rough against the skin. Also, the colours and
designs were very limited and did not attract fashion
conscious urban buyers. This realization led to a closer
involvement in designing and production activities. The
emphasis has been on making the products lighter, softer
and more colourful. This has been achieved by the
introduction of natural dyes, better sourcing and
grading of wool and introducing new product ranges and
designs.
In addition to sheep wool products, Himalayan Weavers
also makes pashmina shawls. Raw Pashmina is procured
from the famous Changthang valley (height: 4500 mts.),
bordering Tibet in Ladakh. This is hand spun in Dunda
village of Uttarkashi district and woven into beautiful
and soft shawls, stoles and scarves.
Most “pashmina” shawls available in the market are made
of mill yarn, which is often a blend of viscose and
wool. Himalayan Weavers has the yarn hand spun from pure
raw pashmina. This is a major attraction of our pashmina
products.
For more information do not hesitate to contact us on
alamcsd@gmail.com |
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