MULMUL- The Muslin fabric

MULMUL- The Muslin fabric. OF WEST BENGAL.

History of muslin fabric. Economics and colonialism changed the history of muslin, but today the original manufacturers in modern day Bangladesh are still holding on to their traditional production skills. Muslin is a woven cotton cloth which was once a luxury fabric. Although it is commonly believed that the cloth originated in the Iraqi city of Mosul, despite its name it is now understood that the cloth likely originated in ancient India. Known as Jamdani , this original form of muslin was usually brightly coloured and patterned while remaining lightweight and almost sheer.Weavers in Dhaka, Bangladesh, used to make this incredibly fine cloth using a method called the discontinuous weft technique. This technique required the weaver to work two layers of weft – one as fine as spider’s silk to hold the cloth together and the other forming the pattern. Each pattern motif was worked individually, using fine bamboo sticks to interlace the pattern threads with the warp threads.Unfortunately, during the period of the East India Company, European manufacturers all but destroyed the industry by flooding the market with factory produced muslin equivalents. Through a combination of punitive taxes on locally produced textiles and the dissolution of local and influential patrons, Jamdani muslin became uneconomical to produce and the skills were almost lost. Thankfully, there are organisations in Bangladesh today that are encouraging local weavers to continue to practice their craft. Coupled with the UNESCO listing of Jamdani muslin on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, there is more impetus to continuing production, albeit on a very small scale.With the proliferation of mass produced and synthetic fabrics on the market today, it is important that these historical techniques aren’t lost forever. No factory can ever emulate the quality arising out of a skilled artisan. Their skills are part of our textile heritage and it’s wonderful they are being recognised and preserved..

What is muslin fabric used for?. Muslin is an extremely versatile fabric used for everything from clothing to science to theater . Here are some functions of the fabric. 1. Dressmaking. Designers use muslin most frequently in sewing and pattern-making to test new patterns. Even if a different fabric is used to make the prototype, it is still referred to as a “muslin.” 2. Quilting. Muslin fabric is often as the backing for a quilt. 3. Home decor. Muslin is used in home decor when a lightweight, sheer fabric is needed to create an airy space, and is used for items like curtains, lightweight bed sheets, and towels. 4. Cleaning. Muslin clothes are popular for multi-use cloths for cleaning everything from the face to the kitchen countertop, as the material can be easily washed and reusing for environmental cleaning purposes. 5. Arts. Muslin holds dye well and is a great option for theater scrims backdrops, and sets. Muslin is light and is a good portable seamless for photographers. 6. Cheesemaking - At-home cheesemakers pour curdled milk, through a muslin bag to separate the liquid whey from the cheese curd. 7. Surgery. Doctors wrap muslin gauze around aneurysms. This helps make the artery stronger and prevent rupture..

Muslin can be used as filter. In a funnel when decanting fine wine or port to prevent sediment from entering the decanter To separate liquid from mush (for example, to make apple juice: wash, chop, boil, mash, then filter by pouring the mush into a muslin bag suspended over a jug) To retain a liquidy solid (for example, in home cheese-making, when the milk has curdled to a gel, pour into a muslin bag and squash between two saucers (upside down under a brick) to squeeze out the liquid whey from the cheese curd) Muslin is the material for the traditional cloth wrapped around a Christmas pudding. Muslin is the fabric wrapped around the items in barmbrack , a fruitcake traditionally eaten at Halloween in Ireland. Muslin is a filter in traditional Fijian kava production. Beekeepers use muslin to filter melted beeswax to clean it of particles and debris..

DOWNFALL OF THE FABRIC. Weavers from Dhaka, Bangladesh, utilized the process called the discontinuous wafting technique to produce this extremely thin cloth. The weaver had to work in this technique two layers of tissue—one as fine as the silk for spinners to retain the tissue and the other as a design. With the use of fine bamboo sticks, each design motif was stitched separately to interlace pattern threads with warp threads. Although the European merchants who traded on the subcontinent bought and shipped Muslin to Europe at extravagant rates, the company had to trade Muslin for cash, gold and silver, because no market for European products existed. The Muslin patronage came to an end as well as the loss of exclusive purchasers. Moreover, following the battle of Palashi , the persecution of the East India Company and its domestic servants made the weavers' plight much worse. The Indian subcontinent was ruled by the East India Company before the British established direct sovereignty in India..

Muslin fabric in today’s world. Today, most muslin fabrics have thread counts—representing the number of crisscrossed threads per square inch—between 40 and 80, according to BBC Future. Thread counts for Dhaka muslin, meanwhile, ranged from 800 to 1200—a particularly impressive achievement given the complex designs woven into the fabric In recent years, Bangladeshis have been working to raise the profile of the country’s muslin craftsmanship, as Khademul Islam reported for AramcoWorld in 2016. That winter, boosters of the artisanal tradition hosted a festival and exhibition in Dhaka—now Bangladesh’s capital—that included a fashion show and displays documenting the complex traditional process of producing the fabric..

Conclusion re-establishment of muslin. In the first quarter of the 19 th century cotton muslin became the highest in mode, even in winter today it is valued as one of the most luxurious fabrics for embroidery materials and more..