SPINNING

The art of hand spinning is an integral component of Ethiopia's cultural heritage. The skill is passed from mother to daughter and has been practiced for centuries throughout the country. Traditionally, women would collect the cotton flowers from their personal cultivation, remove the seeds and spin it into uneven, knobbly thread. 

Today, women still buy carded, unspun cotton and spin on drop spindles. They will sell the cones of cotton thread at the local market or to weavers. Because hand spinning is so time consuming, it is a rare commodity throughout the world and is becoming rarer every year. Even in Ethiopia, spinning is done in women's free time as a way to diversify and supplement other household income. 

            

Honoring the tradition of hand weaving, Sabahar distributes raw cotton to more than 80 women throughout Addis Ababa and buys the resulting thread.  We also have a few women on staff to spin cotton and silk on spinning wheels in our workshop. 

The beauty of hand spun thread is a rare commodity in our quickly changing world of mechanized textile factories. Hand spun cotton is very textured and soft and ensures each product is unique.

Spinning is a craft passed down from mother to daughter in Ethiopia. Sabahar uses those skills to spin cotton and silk into beautifully uneven, imperfect thread.