Thimphu and Bumthang, Bhutan

Kira cloth recorded with the weaver's village, the natural dye and the hours on the loom.

Weaving women in Thimphu and Bumthang make kira on backstrap looms, with dyes from local plants. We record each kira's village, dye source and loom hours, so a buyer knows the cloth was woven by hand.

Write to the weaversCloth on the loom
Hand-woven cloth with rows of figures, animals and trees in coloured weft

Cloth on the looms

KH-9101

Thimphu 6

Weaver group LingzhiWoven

KH-9107

Bumthang 2

Dye from walnutDyed

KH-9113

Thimphu 9

40 loom hoursSold

KH-9120

Bumthang 4

Weaver group ChumeyWoven

Colour from the hillside

The dye plant and its harvest season are written before dyeing, so the colour on the cloth has a named source.

Layered hand-dyed fabrics in purple, green and gold with woven borders Close view of a woven band with a red bird motif and patterned borders

The cloth line

Weaver village
Each kira names the village and the weaving group.
Natural dye
The dye plant and its harvest season are written before dyeing.
Loom hours
Loom hours are counted and written on the cloth line.

Spun, dyed, woven, sold

  1. SpinYarn is spun by hand and the batch is logged.
  2. DyeThe natural dye batch and its plant source are recorded.
  3. WeaveThe kira is woven and its loom hours are counted.
  4. SellThe cloth is sold with its record code.