Jute Silk Fabric: What It Is and How It Is Made

Walk into any saree shop and ask for jute, and what comes out is almost always jute silk: jute yarn woven with silk, or with art silk, into a fabric that has jute's matte slub and silk's fall. Pure jute is too stiff to wear; jute silk is the fabric that made jute a clothing fibre. For the fibre itself, start with Jute Fabric: The Complete Guide.

What it is

Jute silk fabric is a blend, and the blend is in the weave, not the yarn. The warp — the long threads set up on the loom — is usually silk or art silk, because it has to bear the tension of weaving. The weft — the thread carried across — is jute, alone or plied with cotton. The result is a cloth with a silk surface running one way and jute texture running the other, so it drapes like silk and looks like handloom.

Proportions vary. A 60:40 silk-to-jute blend drapes well and suits a saree; a jute-heavy blend is stiffer and suits a jacket or a bag.

Real silk or art silk

The word silk on a jute silk label can mean two things:

• Mulberry silk: the real fibre. Warm to the touch, a soft sheen, drapes close to the body. Costs more and is dry-clean only.
• Art silk: viscose or polyester filament. Cooler and slicker to the touch, a brighter, glassier shine, cheaper. Viscose is a plant fibre and breathes; polyester does not.

Ask the seller which. A burn test on a loose thread settles it — silk smells of burnt hair and leaves a brittle ash; polyester melts into a hard bead — but asking is easier.

How it is made

The jute is retted, stripped, dried and spun as for any jute yarn, but to a finer count and often softened further. The silk warp is set up on a handloom or power loom. The weaver throws the jute weft across, beating it in firmly so the slubs sit evenly. Borders are woven in a contrasting yarn, sometimes with zari; the pallu may carry a wider band. A handloom jute silk saree takes a weaver a day or two; a power loom version, a few hours.

The handloom clusters of West Bengal — Phulia and Shantipur in Nadia, Dhaniakhali in Hooghly — weave most of it, alongside their cotton and tant sarees.

What to look for

• Even slub: the jute texture should be regular across the body, not lumpy in patches.
• A firm selvedge and a border that lies flat.
• Colour: jute takes dye well, but a very bright, very even colour usually means art silk rather than mulberry.
• The back: handloom shows small irregularities; power loom is perfectly even.

Wearing it

Jute silk is a daytime saree. Office, a puja, a family lunch, a wedding morning function. Pair it with a plain cotton or silk blouse in a contrast colour; the fabric has enough texture that the blouse should not compete. Silver or oxidised jewellery suits its matte surface better than gold.

It also makes a good kurti or jacket for the same reasons, and a jute silk dupatta over a plain chaniya is a light, textured way into a Navratri look.