The Swadeshi Group traces its origin to as far back as 1960, when production began with a modest five looms. Today we own 300 looms, with a job-working capacity of another 100 looms, and are one of the leading exporters of handloom fabric to clients in the UK, USA, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Holland, Spain, Australia and Switzerland.

Swadeshi has its own manufacturing units in Cannanore, Kerala, and beginning with the procurement of the yarn, the entire process of dyeing, warping, weaving, finishing and packing - even the stiching of the made-ups is contained in the group.

Cannanore where our main production centers are situated, has a large and skilled weavers' community. It is part of the Kerala Cotton Belt that stretches from Calicut to Cannanore. Traditionally, Cannanore has manufactured fabrics with a yarn count starting from 2/80s. The humid climatic conditions give a particular tautness and strenght to the fabric, setting it apart from cotton produced anywhere else in the country. Our greatest strength though, lies in the weavers of Cannanore, who are highly skilled and talented as well as being conscientious and disciplined. Cannanore is the only place in India where handloom products are classified under the Factories Act and there is a Minimum Wage structure, which is strictly adhered to.

Kerala's literacy percentage is the highest in the country and the weavers make it a point to send their children to school. The mills are very particular about not employing minors and to adhering to all International Standards in terms of quality as well as environment friendliness.

The process by which the yarn gets transformed into textured and patterned cottons is elaborate and painstaking. It can be divided into five stages:

Dyeing: Yarn is sorted into bundles, boiled to remove impurities and bleached before being immersed in dye-baths. Swadeshi uses azo-free vat dyes of high quality, ensuring machine - washability upto 40 degree centigrade.

Warping: After drying, the dyed yarn is then wound around the warp beam of each loom by one worker who counts the number of threads per inch,depending on the design of each fabric.Each design is the responsibility of a single weaver thus ensuring the uniformity in the design, since each weaver has his or her own way of adjusting the loom and an individual rhythm of weaving.

Weaving: When the warp is ready it is mounted on the looom ready for weaving. A weaver normally weaves 10 to 12 metres of fabric per day.Here's where the traditional weaving skills tell, when the weaver's hands and feet move in unison to create the most intricate of designs and the finest of fabrics.

Finishing and Warping: The weaving master then checks the cloth for flaws.The cloth is later cleaned and sent to the finishing mill to be washed. Almost all Swadeshi's fabrics are pre-washed, reducing shrinkage to a minimum of 2 to 5%.

Sewing: The made-ups are then stitched at Swadeshi's sewing factory at Bangalore on imported sewing machines.Styles are followed in precision with great care given to detailing in each and every made-up item. This unit has a work force of 45 workers and smaller items like cushion covers are finished at a rate of thousand pieces a day and items such as ready curtains at the rate of 200 pieces a day.

Apart from our wide range of fabrics, we have an extensive product range of made-ups, and in keeping with our company philosophy of an ever present need to do more and develop more, we today have experimented with a variety of possible articles from padded hangers to kimonos and duvet-covers to lampshades.

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