Pattu is the traditional dress women wear in Himachal, and they weave it in winter. They wrap this clothing in a specific way that resembles a skirt and a top. They pair it with their heavy silver jewellery. Even the safety pins that bring the pattu edges together are of silver, and it looks so pretty.
Pattus are made of thin warm threads, and it comes out as warm clothing, which makes them perfect for the weather in the Himalayas.
For most of their traditional functions, they wear pattu, and the weaving starts after the snowfall. Mainly because they can’t work outside during the snow, and the festivities start after the snow-season. So, the first thing after the snowfall is taking out the weaving machinery and setting it up, probably facing the sun.
This activity is also a lot more community-based. Sometimes, ladies team up to make a pattu. When I was walking around, I could see different people doing different things related to pattu making.
Somebody was spinning the wheel to arrange the thread, whereas others were making the border of the pattu.
Pattus are mostly single colour fabric with colourful borders and a special design called “phool” that gives it a unique touch. Phool is the thick, complex design that is formed on the pattu. So, when they wear it, it takes all the attention. The difference in patterns and designs depends on how many phool there are in the pattu. There is one phool, three phool and so on.
I went around visiting the didi-ies/ladies in my circle who were making pattus for them or their daughters. The first one I saw was this bright red colour pattu. It’s a bright red colour pattu with a classic border. It looks so pretty already. I honestly loved the colour. But, they haven’t reached the place where they make the complex design, aka phool. They said they’ll call me when they make that phool.
I kept asking when they would reach there, and the answers were vague. Basically, it might take weeks, depending on how much time they get to do this continuously. Since both of them are working on it together, I hope to see the result sooner. When I say sooner, maybe in this month itself. They’ve told me they’ll inform me when they make the “phool” on the pattu.
I was curious to see the other pattus in the making, and I went to another family to see theirs. They had a different type of setup for weaving. It looked smaller and compact compared to the red one, where both ladies were weaving.
This one had a variation of brown threads, and they’ve only started it. So, the ladies were carefully threading up for the designs. I left promising to return after they’ve finished more of the designs.
The pattu making in this family was more of a family affair. The mother was teaching their daughter in law how to weave the pattu. Their machine, even though it looked smaller, can make two layers at once.
Back home, I was checking with the girl who comes to visit the puppies about the pattu. She very excitedly brought her pattus for me to check out. It was her pattu when she was younger. Her grandmom made it for her.
Most of the times these are family heirloom clothes which are made with a lot of love and care and are meant to last generations.
It was black with colourful borders and phools. This is one of the best pattus I’ve seen. Even though she mentioned this pattern is old, I loved the finish of it. Since it was meant for a little girl, we could use it like a large shawl.
She has promised to show me all the pattus and share them if I ever want to wear them for any function.
Pattus are a labour-intensive, handmade clothing which is also very expensive. When I say they’re expensive, their raw material itself is expensive. A simple Pattu can cost anywhere from $100 and upwards. This is without adding up the labour charges.
However, they’re also very long and generally worn for traditional functions.
I would really love to make them more functional and maybe introduce them to a larger audience where they can use them in winters. If it is made into an everyday wear accessory, more like a shawl or a skirt, it becomes more functional in my opinion.
I’ve developed this taste in tribal prints and designs after seeing the shawls from the Toda tribe in Tamil Nadu. Well, one day I’ll be able to do this project as well. And Pattu definitely makes it to the list of such clothing items when that project comes alive.
For now, I'm just excited to see this year's fresh pattus everyone is weaving.
