Shuttles and Needles, Chennai, India, Expands
Naresh Ramasubramaniam, owner of Shuttles and Needles, is our distributor in India, and has recently opened a second studio and shop in Bangalore, the garden city of India.
On 14th April, Pavithra Muddaya, a textile historian and revivalist was the guest of honour at the opening. She praised the work done by Shuttles & Needles as she believes that simplification and modernization of equipment will enable people to try things hands-on. At her Vimor Museum where she exhibits vintage hand-woven sarees and rugs, Ms Muddaya uses Ashford SampleIt Looms to show the visitors how weaving is done and encourages them to try weaving so that they can appreciate the nuances of the fabrics on display at the museum.
Like Naresh’s premises in Chennai, the new studio offers an extensive number of workshops, classes and demonstrations and a full range of Ashford equipment.
“Weaving is more of a creative medium than just a skilled craft and it is also a great stress buster, “he said.
Shuttles & Needles has developed an interesting program called ‘Brain Weaves’ for schools, where the children are encouraged to use weaving as a medium of creativity, applying the knowledge they gain in other subjects like math, science, history, music and the like. He said they have successfully implemented this programme in schools in Chennai and are looking forward to expanding this program with schools in Bangalore as well.
They also supply looms for design development to textile and fashion design colleges and assist in setting up design studios for textile designers, slow fashion brands and conduct curated short-term courses on weaving for designers.
Naresh described how Shuttles & Needles has been working with NGOs and parents of children and adults with Intellectual & Developmental Disorders, as weaving is therapeutic and provides meaningful engagement and gives them financial empowerment.
In his speech, he mentioned the work done by Shuttles & Needles with Government agencies and NGOs to uplift women and provide livelihood opportunities.
Also at the opening were designers, NGOs, academics including professors from NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) Bangalore, and some of their enthusiastic clients, and the whole team from the Chennai studio.
We wish you every success!
