Here's How Students At The National Institute Of Design Are Upcycling Fabric Waste

What is designing to you? “Design means solving problems that occur in our day-to-day life through means of creativity and illustrations”, explains Rishabh, a student of Bachelor in Textile Design at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad. Isha Bapat, another student believes designing is a form of self-expression.

Students of NID are working on a design project wherein they are repurposing old clothes. They purchased the raw materials from two prominent markets of Ahmedabad - Dilli Darwaza and Daryapur. Now they are working in the Design Lab, giving a new form, shape purpose and a new life to secondhand clothes, scraps of cloth and textile waste.

There is a uniqueness to each of the design projects, in the way the students approach the material and the method. Yet, the clarity of which approach to take doesn't always come right from the start. As with any creative process, often the students start with one idea, only to realise midway that it's not working, and then make the switch to something else.

Also Read: National Institute Of Design Students Dive Into The World Of Second-Hand Clothes For Their Projects

Talking to NDTV about the design projects, Vishnupriya Narayanan, Faculty, Textile Design Discipline, NID says,

They (students) chose different methods given the fact that the raw material if it is a saree, they knew it could be cut into many strips and that could be then spun and made into a yarn and that yarn could be then further woven or if I had a sheet of fabric, I could then you know create little patchworks, I could applique. We have examples of people who have explored knitting, crochet, and braiding; some who have done smocking to weaving and weaving also on many types – weaving on the loom or just on a frame.

For example, Isha is using a fabric rope made from scraps which is essentially factory waste. She opted for a technique called coiling or basketry to make forms and structures with it.

Another student, Hrishabh Sonu, has chosen patchwork as a method of reworking the patches. He drew inspiration from traditional pieces of patchwork under which old clothes like sarees and dhotis are stitched together to make a quilt. He explains,

When I went to Daryapur, I chose floral prints because I knew I wanted to create patches with similar looking patterns. The waste material I selected was industrial waste of bed sheets, so, they all had floral prints in common. In all of the design projects, we keep in mind the basic design principles like color, pattern and what makes a product unique.

Also Read: Panipat, World's Textile Recycling Hub, Creates New Clothes From The Old

On the other hand, Kanupriya Lohia opted for smocking. Explaining the technique and how she will use it to her benefit, Kanupriya said,

Smocking is basically gathering up fabric in a creative way while allowing the wearer to have the elasticity of movement without adding buttons. I have always seen smocking done on Western clothes or on cuffs, t-shirts and jackets but seeing it done on an Indian saree was a different thing and I wanted to pursue it.

The end result of practising smocking on an Indian saree impressed Kanupriya. She believes the border of the saree adds a uniqueness to it. She says,

It might be very good as a blind; something that could potentially replace regular curtains and add an element of Indianness to your household.

With the idea of reusing fabric already available in the market as “waste” and old clothes, Pari Varia, a student at NID decided to weave old fabric into mats. Explaining the process, Pari says,

I first cut pieces of fabric into strips of yarn. Following this, I weave those strips of yarn into a mat or rug. My idea was to transform fabric waste into something beautiful, aesthetic and user-friendly.

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Each material, each type of cloth comes with its own unique properties. Understanding each one's limitation, yet working to its best potential is what makes the design project even more interesting. And, of course, the fact that they are trying to achieve larger goals, beyond their coursework.

Hrishabh tried to stick with natural products mainly to avoid the use of synthetic material as it takes a long time to decompose and thereby pollutes the environment. He adds,

I decided to stick by natural dye because the dyeing industry especially contributes a lot to water pollution.

How are other students ensuring their design projects don't add to the waste burden or create pollution, impacting the environment? Isha says,

For this particular project, we did go to second-hand markets to source materials. So, that is bringing in a consciousness something my generation I think already has. We try to bring sustainability to our projects through ways of reusing and just minimalizing waste.

It has been a long and busy six weeks, and at the end of it, we see the Design Lab filled with an array of products, fabrics and styles – jeans, florals, ropes, sarees, crochet, weaves – transforming the classroom into a space of riotous creativity, a space of free thinking and risk-taking, giving ideas a material form, while utilising every inch of the fabric and letting nothing go waste – all for the love of design.

Also Read: 'MotherQuilts' Is Reviving The Traditional Art Of Quilting, Here's How

We began our journey with the students of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, to see how our young designers are leading the way and setting trends for the future of the textile industry. It's training and learning that is helping designers make a tangible difference in the professional world.

Tejal Deshpande is a designer who used her training at NID to start a brand. Tejal shares,

I started with the brand, Tejal Keyur Textiles, where we upcycle discarded sarees into design products, mainly fashion bags and clutches. When I was a student at NID, we used to have design projects at the end of every semester and in two or three projects, I ended up using surplus materials. It was a subconscious move. I wasn't aware of the concept of upcycling or recycling as such. But at that time, I had gone for an industry visit; I had gone for a different purpose but came back with a different insight.

The industry that Tejal is talking about was situated right behind a mountain of textile discards in Ahmedabad. It was only after seeing that massive amount of discarded clothes and old sarees in a dumpster that Tejal thought of doing something about it.

With support from the faculty at NID, Tejal started using fabric waste.

While Ahmedabad had Dilli Darwaja and Daryapur as ready markets of fabric waste and second-hand clothes, Tejal had to start building her contacts from scratch in her hometown of Kolhapur.

Also Read: How The Waghri Community, Indias Invisible Recyclers Help Keep Old Clothes Away From Landfills

Tejal says,

Interestingly, in Maharashtra, there is a community of women called Boharin. It is the same as the Waghri community you find in parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan. They collect old sarees or clothing from door-to-door in exchange for utensils. I started going to the weekly Sunday markets here that is where all these ladies gather on Sundays and sell clothes that they have collected.

Thousands of pilgrims visit Kolhapur every year, offering prayers and sarees to the goddess Mahalakshmi. Unfortunately, some of these sarees end up as waste but people in Kolhapur saw it as a resource. Local shops around the temple started collecting these sarees and this became one of the few sources where Tejal got her raw material from.

Tejal adds,

Our design process does not start from our studio. It begins when we go out on sourcing, because sourcing will define what sort of material palette we are going to have for a month or maybe a week. And that will impact our design process.

Tejal and her husband take second-hand clothes to women in Ambewadi village. The sarees are upcycled into bags, wallets, and baskets under the brand name Tejal Keyur Textiles.

Also Read: 'Refash', One Stop Store For Upcycled Fashion

Founded by Tejal and her husband Keyur, the idea of their own brand came during the lockdown.

Keyur Kurulkar, Co-Founder of Tejal Keyur Textiles shared,

During the COVID months, both of our earlier works were sort of in a stagnancy phase where we used to travel a lot but we were now homebound. We had a lot of time to experiment, we had a lot of time to figure out stuff with the things that we already had in hand. And some of that brainstorming led us to go looking out for material that was close to us, try to make something out of it, and try to involve people whom we had relatively easy access to during those months. And, that was something that led this brand to what it is today.

Initially, Tejal would craft all the products on her own. But, gradually, as it became difficult for her, she trained a small group of women in Kolhapur and taught them how to knit - crochet knitting out of strips of the sarees.

Tejal and Keyur have currently employed seven women from the village. Some come here to Neeta's house, while some take the clothes home.

Neeta, one of the artisans says,

We have been working since 2021. I did training for a year, and only after that, we went a step further. We learnt a lot. We started with stitching, then moved on to small products and baskets. Initially, there were 20 women. But some had other problems and had to leave. We are now seven women working here. Now we make different designs, landscapes, and animal prints like goats, leopards and other items.

By buying raw materials locally, hiring artisans from nearby areas and upcycling discarded sarees, Tejal and Keyur are giving their products a conscience. They have tried to keep their carbon footprint as low as possible and are doing their bit to keep the clothes out of landfills.

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