A royal purple field held inside a wide gold border of dense geometric work.

Why this piece

The border is the piece — wider and more densely patterned than most in this weave, with the geometric work running its full depth.
A solid ground behind it — royal purple carried the whole length, undivided, so nothing competes with the border.
Flower buti — small woven figures repeating sparsely across the body and gathering through the pallu, dobby-set on the loom rather than applied to the surface.

The colourway

Royal purple sits between violet and blue and reads regal without going dark, which is why it can take a border this wide without the piece tipping into heaviness. The body is kept plain on purpose: the complexity is all at the edge.

How it is woven

Master weaver Aafreen wove it. This is hand weaving in the plain sense of it: a pit loom, a weft inserted by hand, and a dobby setting the buti across the body and the figures in the border. The pattern is built as the cloth is built, not printed on later.

A hand-inserted weft leaves marks of itself — the odd slub or a pick that sits a fraction differently. That is the weave telling you what it is.

The border, and how it wears

A bugdi border, so the woven border design reads the same on both faces — a craft signature you can see for yourself rather than take on trust.

The figures are ours, measured in-house: 350 to 360 g, 44 to 46 GSM. Light enough for warm weather and long wear, soft enough to pleat closely, and semi-sheer through the body, so wear it over a petticoat.

Specification

Total length: 6.3–6.5 m, including an 80–90 cm blouse piece
Width: 45–46 inches
Weight: 350–360 g, measured in-house
Fabric weight: 44–46 GSM
Body: semi-sheer; wear it with a petticoat
Drape: soft, holds its pleats, and stays soft after the first clean
Loom: pit loom, with the weft inserted by hand
Patterning: dobby-set, on body, border and pallu
Finishing: pallu kuchu, selvedge and edges finished; fall and pico on request
Woven in: Maheshwar, Khargone district, Madhya Pradesh
Country of origin: India
Net quantity: one saree with attached blouse piece
Care: Dry Clean Only

Care and storage

Professional dry clean only. Home washing is not recommended.
Air-dry in the shade, without wringing.
Iron inside out on a low-to-medium setting, under a cotton press cloth.
Store it wrapped in breathable cotton or muslin, in a cool dark cupboard.
Refold along fresh lines every three to six months.

Dispatch

This piece is held in stock rather than made to order, so hand weaving does not put you in a queue. About half of all orders leave the next day, most go within two to three days, and most orders inside India arrive in three to seven days.

A note on colour

This piece is a royal purple, bordered in wide geometric gold. Screens, camera settings and the light a photograph was taken in all move a shade a little, so the piece that reaches you may sit slightly away from the image on this page. Every colour in this range has been tested for fastness on wash and rub.

Product details

Country of origin: India. Net quantity: one saree with attached blouse piece. Care: Dry Clean Only.

Royal Purple Pure Handloom Maheshwari Silk Saree, Wide Geometric Gold Border | Phulwari