Queen Menon shawl by Sabahar PLC (ETHIOPIA)

This product is 100% eri silk, machine spun from India for the warp, and hand spun from Ethiopia for the weft. The production uses traditional spinning and weaving skills, however, with an entirely new fiber for Ethiopia - eri silk. Sabahar has been a pioneer in promoting the production and processing of eri silk for the last 16+ years. In the last years, we have seen a rapid increase in the amount of silk being produced in Ethiopia. We have also introduced the spinning wheel to spin the silk, which is faster and enables the women to produce a highly consistent thread. We have been collaborating with a local business in the southern part of Ethiopia (Beresericulture) as a reliable market, to stimulate more production. This shawl is entirely produced by women - from looking after the silk worms to produce the cocoons, spinning on spinning wheels, weaving, fringing and finishing. The design is produced by using silk dyed in coffee. Since 95% of all weavers in Ethiopia are men, it is unusual that this product is woven by a woman weaver who works at Sabahar. The silk warp is difficult to work with, however, Senait is one of our most efficient and careful weavers, and she does the best job at producing this shawl. This shawl is named after Queen Menon - first wife of Emperor Haile Salassie, the last ruler from the line of Soloman to rule Ethiopia. The silk weft threads for the design are dyed in coffee.100%  The eri silk for the weft requires 4 days of spinning on a spinning wheel. Preparing the warp and tying on takes 1.5 days, weaving 1 piece requires 3 hours, and fringing, washing, ironing, labelling and finished takes about 3 hours. The total for 1 shawl is about 5 days. Dimensions 70 x 200 cm. Dispatch time 2-4 weeks.