Bale is the original name for the straight line of colorful embroidery on all four sides of a shawl (usually measuring about 2-3 cms). The Bale was usually a highlight on the edges. Traditionally, the four corners of the shawl would have a each on the inside of the Bale, placed at an angle of 45 degrees pointing to the center of shawl. At Andraab we embroider the Bale as a single colour in order to enhance its minimalistic feel, bringing a freshness to the design.
Boteh is traditionally a small embroidered motif inspired by nature. Botehs have taken the form of paisleys, florals, cypress and the cedar tree. The paisley is a teardrop-shaped motif with a curved upper end is of Persian-Indian origin. Design scholars believe the cypress tree is a Zoroastrian symbol of life and eternity. The "bent" cedar is also a sign of strength and resistance tempered with modesty. The floral motif was originated in the Sassanid dynasty and later in the Safavid dynasty of Persia (1501–1736), and was a major textile pattern in Iran during the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties.
The Jama is a modern nterpretation of Jamevar/Jamavar, is exquisitely intricate embroidery which covers every square millimeter of a pashmina with different designs, traditional or contemporary.<br> Jamawars were favoured by royalty in the subcontinent and central Asia for use in their imperial clothes and drapes, canopies, and other markers of prestige and pomp. The Jamavars were traditionally woven with bobbins and the best of them would consist of silk warp and pashmina weft. The finest weaves among these had two faces as mirror images of each other, called
kaani is a shawl woven with bobbins or twigs (which are called kaani in the local language) on a double twilled loom. This particular technique was born and nurtured in the Kashmiri town of Kanihama, and closely resembles the weaving technique of elaborate tapestries. The designs are first colour-coded and then woven over the pashmina warp with the help of bobbins, each bobbin representing a different color. The bobbins are then interwoven with each other and the warp to bring to life beautiful floral, traditional or contemporary designs. Each shawl can take from 2 months to 2 years on the loom to finish. Andraab is proud and honoured to employ a few of the remaining handful of weavers who are masters of this technique.
