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Idpms - design interventions in sisal craft
1.
2. CONTENTS
Synopsis
The Organisation
Objective of the project
Location and the people involved.
The Fibre
Existing Products.
Skills & Processing
The Design brief
Market Survey
Design Development
The Colour Workshop
The Dyeing Workshop
Design prototypes
Recommendations
3. SYNOPSIS
This project dealt with developing new products for the involved groups
keeping in mind their resources, skills and the available raw material. The
groups have been working on sisal products and they have been making the
same type of products as available in jute or Banana fibre.
A market survey was done in the southern region to identify the available
products and draw a requirement from the market. The survey pointed out the
need for a new range of colours and contemporary designs.Also the
international market indications showed the need for natural fibre products.
A number of sketches were made for concepts along with some samples for
techniques and some of the concepts were taken ahead for prototyping.
An understanding of the problems faced during prototyping and design
development enabled us to give a few recommendations which we feel are
important for smooth functioning of the craft groups
4. The Organisation
Indo- Dutch Project Management Society was established in the
year 1989 as a part of the co-operation between the Netherlands
Government and the Govt. of Karnataka.
A not-for-profit organisation with its head office in Bangalore, India
has Rural Development as its main objective. Various development
programmes are planned and implemented by the Programme
Management Unit of the the Society. Presently, the Society has
taken up a Rural Small and Micro Enterprises Development
Programme in two districts of Karnataka State. Special attention is
given to women in rural areas. The programme Management Unit
has over a period of time accumulated valuable expertise and on
request provides advisory/ consultancy services in the development
of Rural Small and Micro Enterprises.
5. The Project Management Unit of the Indo-Dutch Project
Management Society (IDPMS) under the Rural Small and Micro
Enterprise Development Programme (RSMEDP) in Mysore district
chose to work with Sisal fibre products.
In late 1994 the preparatory work was initiated
and actual implementation was initiated and
the actual implementation started in Jan’95.
During this period IDPMS staff recruited two
women trainers from Vimalalayam in Cochin to stay in the villages
and train the women in the basic skill development and the women
over a period of time formed their own association called the Sree
Dodda Tayee Swa Sahaya. The project to date has been successful in
empowering these timid illiterate women who have gone as far as
Hyderabad,Bangalore and Mysore to participate in melas and market
their products.
6. Objective of the project
In Mysore district, in the villages of Kuderumole, Dasanur and Nerale
there are women making Sisal products.
This craft was introduced to the women so that they could supplement
their income. Initially it was a large group of women who were
trained but the numbers dwindled to a handful when orders for the
type of products they were making were not regular or large enough
to ensure constant work for all the women.
The Indo-Dutch Project Management Society (IDPMS) therefore
approached NID to undertake a design intervention project for design
development and for the upgradation of skills.
The objective of the project was mainly product development and
skill upgradation.
7. The means to this end was done in five phases;
1. Information collection and market survey
2. Concept development of products with workshops on
dyeing, the use of colour and quality control.
3. The development of products that had been conceptualised
and created by NID designers.
4. Test marketing of the products at exhibitions and melas for
market feedback.
5. Documentation of the project.
8. Location and the People
The women involved in this project are drawn from the villages of
Kuderumole, Dasanur and Nerale which are in Chamrajpet district
and they are about an hour and a half away
from Mysore.
The people in these villages are illiterate
and the women in particular. Most women
of the younger generation have studied only
upto seventh standard. The main source of
income is from agricultural activities, wage
labour and in some cases non-farm activities like Sisal rope making,
silk cocoon rearing. Women also go out on wage labour duty during
the agricultural season. The women have no control over the income
they earn and whatever is earned is handed over to the male who is
the head of the family.
9. The Fibre
Sisal (Agave sisalana) is one of about 300 species of plants belonging
to the Agave family (Agavaceae), all originating in the tropical and
subtropical parts of the Western Hemisphere; they have been
introduced to other places, including East Africa,
the West Indies, Indonesia,and the Philippines.
The name sisal comes from the name of the port
in the state of Yucatan in Mexico, from which the
fibre was first exported. Production. The plant
produces leaves two to six feet (0.6 to 2 meters )
in length, tapering off to a sharp thorn-like point. The growth rate
depends on the availability of water, for sisal is a water-storing plant,
growing when water supplies are available but stopping to conserve
water in times of drought.
It may produce six to eight leaves per month during the wet season,
and none in the dry season.
10. Sisal grows in areas where the rainfall and soil conditions are
unsuitable for other species of agave, and under a much wider range of
growth conditions than henequen. The life processes and activity of the
plant depend on soil conditions and climate.
There are two growing seasons per year in East Africa, as against one
in Mexico, but the plants live through approximately the same number
of growing seasons in both areas, producing fibres at a considerably
higher rate in East Africa, but with the total yield per lifetime
approximately the same.Sisal prefers dry, permeable soils, with some
lime, but also grows on well drained, black, cotton land. Suckers
(rapidly developing shoots) were formerly used for propagation
because they can be planted immediately after their removal from the
parent plant, but the modern practice is to use buds, or bulbils, for
propagation, placing them in nurseries for about 12 to 18 months
before they are planted in the field. Planting of the bulbils is usually
done during the rainy season. Toward the end of its life, the plant starts
to pole , and the pole can reach a height of 20 or more feet (six meters
or more), being branched at the last five feet.
11. After the pole stops growing, the branches
throw out stems on which the yellow sisal
flowers develop, eventually dying and
falling off. The bulbils formed when the
flowers die grow to a length of about four
inches, at which size they are easily
removed. The plant dies after the pole has
developed bulbils, each pole yielding CUT SISAL LEAVES
about 2,000.
The time needed before a new sisal plant is ready for cutting depends
on the conditions under which it is grown. From two and a half to
four years may be needed .Leaves that are ready for cutting are
severed at their base with a sickle-like knife. Yields of 17 tons per
hectare (seven tons per acre) can be obtained from properly cut
plants. The leaves weigh between one and one and a half pounds
each, and are tied into bundles of 30 leaves, with 70 bundles making
up a task.Each leaf contains about 1,000 individual fibres.
12. Processing
Mechanical process
Fibre constitute about 2 to 5 percent of
the weight of the leaves. Decortification
of the leaves is carried out in large
FIBRE EXTRACTION MACHINE
stationary machines that crush the leaf,
scrape the fibre clean, and wash it to remove the remaining pulp
pieces. Fibre intended for export is graded and baled. Grade
designation and bale weight differ widely.
Manual process
For producing the fibre, these leaves are first allowed to soak in
water for a week; thereafter they are takenout and beaten on a stone
to remove the non-fibrous chemical substances.
14. The remaining fibrous content is then collected and this is allowed to
remain in the water for a day. Afterwards the fibres are taken out and
set up for drying. The fibres have a natural shiny luster and are capable
of further treatment with chemicals or natural dyes.
Fibre properties
Sisal is a white to yellowish fibre, three to five feet in length. One of
the coarser hard fibres, it is strong but
not as flexible as abaca. Commercial
Sisal fibres, consist of strands conta-
ining a large number of small indivi-
dual fibres held together by natural
gums. The average length of sisal
fibres varies from three to four feet
(about a metre) or longer. The strands
are usually white and of high lustre. Sisal fibres have good breaking
elongation, and high resistance to seawater.
15. Use
Sisal is mostly used for the manufacture of binder twine and bailer
twine, although efforts are being made to find new uses, such as for
matting. A weakness of sisal rope is a tendency to break suddenly
without warning, in contrast to abaca rope, which show threatening
signs before breaking.
World production and consumption. Total annual world production of
Sisal was over 600,000 tons in the late 1960’s. Tanzania was the
largest producer, with nearly 33 percent, followed by Brazil with
nearly 30 percent, and then by Angola, Kenya, and Uganda. The
largest importers of sisal were the Commonwealth countries, which
imported 195,000 tons.
16. Existing Products.
The existing product range consists of one or two types of shopping
bags, coasters and table mats in two or three sizes and door mats
made of the waste sisal. The Sisal is also converted into rope and this
rope is used as the weft to weave floor coverings and the rope is also
used to weave the seat of low wooden stools. Many of these products
or similar products are made in jute and other fibres in West Bengal,
Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
17. Skills & Process
The women in these centres are skilled in cleaning and separating the
fibre and they can make the three strand braid quite efficiently. All
their products use the sisal braides as the basic raw material. The
braide is stitched together to create discs or ovals that are embellished
around the edge with loops of the same braid and this is the method in
which they create coasters and placemats. The stitching is done with
cotton thread which is usually dyed the same colour that the sisal is
dyed. The stitching is quite neat.
BRAIDING STITCHING
18. WASHING THE FIBRE
DYEING THE FIBRE
STITCHING UP INTO BAGS
PREPARING BRAIDS
19. The Design brief
The Design Brief given was to develop products and product
mixes that had a better acceptability in the market. To provide
support by imparting training to the craft persons in the areas of
dyeing, colour usage, quality control and productivity.
20. Market Survey
The market survey for Sisal products was conducted in three cities
- New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The purpose of the survey
was to check to see what sort of presence sisal products had in the
stores that were visited, what sort of fibre products were available, it
could be any fibre and to gauge what sort of products were stocked
by the stores which could be made or reinvented if necessary in
sisal.
NEW DELHI
In New Delhi the place visited as part of the market survey was The
International Gift Fair organised by the Export Promotion Council
of Handicrafts; this was a forum to examine the needs of the
international market.
21. The International Gift Fair was organized
by the Export Promotion Council for
Handicrafts. This was an ideal opportunity
to discover what fibre products were on
offer for export. There was a dearth of fibre
products although participants were getting
inquiries for large and small containers and bags for various
purposes. The products most in demand were shopping bags of
various sizes and shapes.
Delhi Haat which is an open air craft bazaar
where groups of craftspersons or individuals
rent a space and sell their products. They are
there for a short period of time for about two
to three weeks at a time so non of the stalls
there are permanent.
22. State government emporiums and the Cottage
Industries emporiums are platforms for each
state to display and sell the crafts from its state.
In a place like Delhi one gets to sample all the
crafts from all over the country within a small
area.
Dastakar is a non government organisation
that encourages the crafts and is really trying
to give the crafts person a fair deal in trying to
cut out the middle man.Delhi Haat has a
number of crafts people coming to sell their
wares from all over the country. There were
some jute products but not of sisal.
23. The Cottage Industries Emporium is the largest craft
outlet in the city but it contained stocks of sisal
coasters and tablemats. The same products are being
made by IDPMS. There seems to be no significant
presence of Sisal in any of the State government
emporia except for jute in some. Dastakar is quite
a well known non government organisation that
promotes crafts through Dastakar retail outlets.
There were some fibre products and almost nothing
made of sisal.
HYDERABAD
The shops visited in Hyderabad were Contem-
porary Arts and Crafts, Cottage Industries
Emporium, Kalanjali,35 Park Lane and
Lepakshi.
24. Contemporary Arts and Crafts is store that has
coasters, tablemats and door mats made of sisal
but they are not displayed to advantage.
BANGALORE
Bangalore has a number of craft outlets and they
stock a wide variety of craft products from all
over the country. These outlets are Industree,
Sabha, Cauvery, Raaga, Sasha and Fab India.
Industree promotes handicrafts from all over the
country and is actively involved in designing and
producing contemporary products using traditional
craft skills so that many a craft gets a new lease of
life.
25. Industree stocks and displays a number of fibre
products but sisal products form a miniscule
portion.
Sabha is a craft outlet promoted by Action Aid
and the shop displays a variety of crafts but a
majority of them are from the north and west of
India.
They do not have any fibre products.
The Cauvery handicrafts emporium is Karnataka’s
state handicraft emporium which attracts a number
of tourists The Emporia does not have sisal fibre
products. Raaga is a small gift shop attached to the Casa
Picola chain of restaurants which are very
popular with the college crowd who shop here
for gifts. Here too there are no sisal products.
Sasha is yet another craft shop in Bangalore.
Sasha has a number of jute products made in
Bengal.
26. A large percentage of Sasha’s products are from the east but Sasha
has no sisal products.
Fab India is a store for garments, furnishing
fabrics and made ups which are all craft based.
They do have a few products outside these three
categories such as ceramics in the form of
crockery, leather bags etc. but they don’t have
any sisal products.
GOA
It was seen that Goa being a tourist place
sells a good number of Sisal products.The
products are well taken and there is a
demand for innovative products.
27. OBSERVATIONS
• The presence of Sisal in the market is negligible.
• There is a demand for utilitarian products such
as bags, storage containers which can be made
of sisal especially for the export market.
• Doormats, tablemats, coasters and a few bags
made of sisal have become cliched. The
discerning customer today wants something
different everyday.
• Products which could be developed using sisal -
floor coverings, space dividers, footwear,
furniture, and home accessories.
28. Design Development
The Initial concepts were developed based on the information
gathered during the market survey. Certain types of products were
chosen to be developed. This existing method of braiding and
stitching is quite limiting. Therefore it was important to introduce
other simple skills such as creating multiple strand braids, or a
simple weaving of sisal rope with the aid of sticks.
It was decided that concepts for floor coverings, bags, storage
containers, would be the main focus but there were some other
products that were conceptualised such as footwear, ladders and
swings, lamp shades and so on.
In the process of conceptualising on one hand the products developed
were such that sisal would be the only fibre or material used and on
the other hand there was a conscious effort to combine more than one
material.
29. This effort to combine more than one material in one product was
done for three reasons :
• One to use the properties of one material to offset the lack of those
particular properties in another material and therefore compliment
each other. An example would be the containers developed with
sisal rope and bamboo. The bamboo gave the container a stable
form and the sisal rope was pliable enough to bend around the
bamboo strips so a basket could be woven which was sturdy,
novel and an object of simple beauty·
• Two, to use the skills of more than one type of crafts person and
combine them in one product.
• Three, to make the sisal fibre more suitable for just about any
category of product.
A presentation of these initial concepts or ideas was made to the staff
of IDPMS for their feedback before the prototypes were begun.
36. The Colour Workshop
Colour is extremely important and more often than not a product sells
because the colour is right. Colour and the theories of colour are
complex subjects that require a great deal of study and experience to
be able to make the right choices. Therefore to teach a group of
women enough about colour in a week’s time so that it would make a
difference to the products they made was quite a challenge..
To introduce then to the subject of colour we gave them a warm up
exercise. large selection of coloured paper
cut into squares of one standard size was
given to them and they were asked to
choose any number of squares of any
of the colours and stick them down on
a sheet of paper such that a large square
composed of seven rows and seven columns
was created. This was composition 1.
37. Next a few magazines were given to them and they were asked to
choose one picture or image and observe how many different colours
there were and the placement in the picture.
Next they were asked to choose square bits
of coloured paper and recreate the picture
only in terms of the proportion of colour as
they were in the picture and in terms of the
colour placement. This was composition 2.
Once this was done the two compositions
were compared.
This exercise was done to make the women aware of the proportion
of colour and how these proportions were vital in making a pleasant
and balanced composition. It was also pointed out that a picture that
they took a liking to for its use of colour could be translated in this
fashion.
38. They were introduced to the colour wheel, the three primary colours
and how two primaries when mixed in equal quantities would result
in a secondary colour.This was explained by asking them to colour the
same patch on a piece of paper with felt pens of any two primary
colours . In this manner all the women mixed the primaries red and
blue to get the secondary colour purple, blue and yellow to get green
and red and yellow to get orange.
They were introduced to analogous colours and they were told that
using analogous colours was a safe choice because analogous colours
are harmonious and work well together
irrespective of the proportion in which
they are used. They also did an exercise
where they chose a set of analogous
colours and created a composition.
To use colour successfully requires
practice and there are individuals who
are naturally better at choosing colours and it would be suggested that
such a person should then be given the task of choosing and matching
colours
39. The Dyeing Workshop
The dyeing workshop was held in Chamrajnagar one of the towns
where the women make sisal fibre products. For the dyeing
workshop Direct dyes were chosen because
• they are suitable for dyeing sisal which is a cellulosic material
• direct dyes are relatively inexpensive and readily available
• the colours are bright
• there are a number of shades which
are available
• the method or process of dyeing is a
simple one and requires simple
calculations which the women can
cope with.
• not many chemicals are required and
those which are required are readily available and do not require
to be stored under special conditions.
40. The recipe for the preparation of the dye solution and
the salt and soda solutions were given.
So by this method they just have to prepare the dye
solution and refer to the shade card and if it is Shade
No: 20 that they want to achieve they need to combine
5ml of Brown with 5ml of Green.This also allowed
them to dye a greater number of shades because by
varying the proportions a whole number of tonal
variations can be achieved.
THE DYEING PROCEDURE
Prepare the dyebath and heat it till it reaches a temperature of 40C.
Add the requisite amount of Soda solution and then put the material
into the dye bath. Raise the temperature of the dyebath until it is 80C.
All the while care should be taken to see that the material in the
dyebath is stirred from time to time so that the dyeing is even. Once
the dyebath reaches 80C add the salt solution to the dyebath in three
equal installments at 10 minute intervals. .
41. Continue to stir the material in the dyebath from time to time. After
the last installment of salt allow the material to remain in the dyebath
for a further 30 minutes
Once the 30 minute period is over remove the material from the
dyebath and wash the material in water and dry in the shade.
A simple shade card was prepared to
serve as reference in the future and also
help to standardise colours so that the
women could refer to the shade card and
reproduce exactly the same colour should
there be a repeat order for one of the
products. The women who attended the workshop were introduced to
the concept of a shade card and the importance of achieving a standard
colour. The women dyed a number of colours as well as dyeing various
quantities of the sisal fibre so that they could tackle the simple
mathematics involved in calculating the amount of dye, salt and soda
solutions required for a particular quantity of Sisal fibre.
42. The dyeing workshop was a good idea and a good
experience for the women because they did get to put
their learning into practice soon after when they got
an order for sisal shopping bags from Industree and
there were two to three colours that the sisal had to be
dyed.
What was important was that the entire quantity of
sisal which had to be dyed a particular colour could
not be dyed in one lot. Instead they had to be dyed in
a few smaller lots but the colour had to remain the
same and the women managed to do that successfully.
TO MAKE SODA SOLUTION
Weigh 10gms of Soda Ash and dissolve it in 400ml of
water and stir well until it is completely dissolved.
43. THE AMOUNT OF SOLUTION TO BE TAKEN ON THE
WEIGHT OF THE MATERIAL
Dye: 1.5% = 15ml of dye solution
Soda: 1.0% = 10ml of soda solution
Salt: 12.0% = 12ml of salt solution
The most significant point of this dyeing workshop was that the
women did not have to work with calculations that involved
working out the percentage of dye- stuff to the quantity of fibre
to be dyed. Instead a method that involved proportions was
developed because women understand proportions as they use
them daily in their cooking and therefore could relate to this
concept easily.
44. TO MAKE DYE SOLUTION
To make 400ml of dye solution:
Weigh 10gms of dyestuff and make into a paste with 50ml of luke
warm water.
To the paste add 350ml of water to make the dye solution.
Stir the solution well until the dye is completely dissolved.
TO MAKE SALT SOLUTION
Weigh 80 gms of common salt and dissolve it in 400ml of water and
stir well until it is completely dissolved.
54. Recommendations
Understanding gained during the various stages of Design
development has enabled us to make a few recommendations for good
and smooth working of the craft groups .
• The craftpersons should be actively involved in the selling and
developing new products.
• An interaction and exposure programme should be built-up for
the groups so that they can learn new techniques from the other
groups who are making fibre products.The craft groups should be
exposed from time to time to the international fibre requirements
and the products.
• There is a need of research and development in the field of fibre
extraction and processing. Some mechanisms should be
organised for these functions.
55. Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mr. Aditya H.R.(IDPMS) for his active participation and
cooperation at every stage, Mr. Sadananda (IDPMS) and his team for extending
their help throughout the project.
We also would like to acknowledge the help and cooperation extended to us by Mr.
Anath Panth, Mr. Varchasvi Manapure, Mr. Tippesh, Mr. Manjunath, and the rest of
the fieldstaff on the project.
We are also thankful to Rani Vincent and Rajeshwari of YMCA Kanyakumari for
their contribution in making of the prototypes.
we are thankful to RDTDC, EPCH, and INDUSTREE Bangalore for extending
their help.
We would like to thank specially the women from the workgroups in Nerale,
Kuderumole and Dsanur who worked with us to make the project a success.
We also acknowledge the support and feedback from the faculty members of NID.
