Hello! We are Junekeri's Backstrap Weavers.
We are based in North-Eastern India, and we make the fabric for Junekeri's cushions.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT US:
Begha Village
I am Dhan Kumari Gurung.I am 90, and the eldest and most experienced in my village.I train my daughters and the other girls here so that we can help preserve the dying art of Gurung Rari rugs.
Khawhai Village
I am Pi Vungi.I am 58.My sisters and I learned to weave at home with my mother.She taught us the art of weaving at the age of 7 and how to master the backstrap loom which is as complex as its history.
WHERE WE LIVE:
Our village is very remote. The nearest town is a four-six hour drive away. We live in wooden houses.We try to finish all our work before June when the cultivation season starts.
HOW WE WEAVE:
We weave fabric on a Back-strap Loom. It's also known as a loin-loom. Back-strap weaving is one of the oldest forms of weaving, with it being traced back to the Bronze Iron Age. We make the looms ourselves using bamboo, sticks and, leather. They look like this:
We sit in front of the loom while we fix the back strap.The footrest can be adjusted to keep the loom in tension.The warp is initially prepared by wrapping the thread around the frame.This is later transferred to the loom, where the sticks are manually used to separate the threads allowing us to insert the flat shuttle to achieve different geometric designs and motifs.
Kedutsolou L.Mero, Enhulumi Village
Since our looms are narrow, we produce strips of cloth that are not more than 18 inches in width.To achieve a bigger width we sew different pieces of cloth.Most of the throws that we've woven for Junekeri have that finishing in them.
The beauty of the back-strap loom is that it can be set up anywhere due to its versatile nature.We can weave inside our homes or outside on the field while raising a family and earning an income - the possibilities are endless!
We also dye a lot of the yarn which are made of locally sourced natural products.
Once our fabrics are ready, we send them to Gurgaon where Madhu Ben and Ganpathji make them into cushions.We love seeing photos of our fabrics with customers who truly appreciate the beauty of handmade.
If you've already got some Junekeri cushions and rugs, you can share them on Instagram or Facebook and tag us @junekerihomes, then the team in Gurgaon will send them to us!
Thanks for reading our story !!!