Durrie weaving: loom, pattern and work

Surface and loom

A durrie has a flat, pileless surface. Global InCH’s craft account describes a weft-faced plain weave made on a simple horizontal loom. It records cotton warp with wool or other weft materials. Separate coloured wefts build the pattern, and a metal beater called a panja packs them into place. The design belongs to the woven structure itself, rather than being an embroidered layer added afterwards.[2]

The account distinguishes striped bed coverings made on a pit loom from floor coverings made on an adda, or floor loom. In its Nakodar example, floor designs often use two contrasting colours, while bed coverings can have multicoloured stripes. These differences connect the arrangement of the loom, pattern and intended use; they do not describe every Punjabi durrie.[2]

Learning designs

A 2023 Punjab Agricultural University study followed 45 practising women in selected villages of Patiala, Ludhiana and Amritsar. The researchers deliberately sought people already weaving, rather than surveying a representative population. Most respondents described learning from a mother or grandmother, and many continued working with senior relatives. Preferences for wave, geometric, bird and animal designs varied between the three groups. Some bird and animal work was made specifically for customers, placing personal skill alongside the requirements of an order.[1]

Beyond one product

The same study records products beyond a large covering: foot mats, table runners, cushion covers and bags appear among the respondents’ work. Buyers could be neighbours, direct customers, intermediaries or people reached through fairs. Weavers described the difficulty of matching long hours of work to an adequate return. Their concerns involved design choices and access to buyers as well as the physical loom. The study therefore presents an adaptable practice with several products and selling routes, rather than one unchanged household object.[1]