Sambalpuri Ikat Sky Blue Cotton Saree Chevron Indigo Pallu

A handwoven Sambalpuri ikat saree from the Bargarh weaving cluster of western Odisha The light sky blue cotton body is set with a soft tonal stripe and finishes in two bands of bold ikat chevron at the lower body The pallu is a deeper indigo with a dense ikat chevron pattern bordered by a silver grey zari band finished in indigo cotton tassels This is a lighter summer weight saree easy to drape and easy to live in How to tell a true Sambalpuri ikat from a powerloom print ikat is a yarn dye craft not a fabric print The weaver bundles ties and dyes the warp and weft yarns in stages before weaving so the colour goes all the way through the thread Look closely at the edges of any chevron you should see a soft millimetre scale feathering on both sides the signature of yarn by yarn alignment at the loom A powerloom print lays the chevron on top of finished fabric so the lines are perfectly crisp and the colour sits as a surface skin you can sometimes feel Turn the cloth over handloom ikat is reversible because the dye is in the yarn not on the cloth Sambalpuri ikat known locally as Bandha is a GI tagged tradition centred on Bargarh Sonepur and Boudh in western Odisha A simple sky blue piece like this is around eight to ten days at the loom with most of the time going into the tie and dye preparation of the warp before a single throw of the shuttle happens This is an easy summer drape wear it to office an afternoon at a friend s house a casual brunch or a Saturday outing Pair with a plain ivory navy or indigo blouse and add a single strand of silver beads or oxidised jhumkas Skip the heavy gold the chevron carries the visual weight