Sussi سوسی
a field guide.
Most people in Pakistan have never bought sussi; many have never heard the word. Here is everything you need to know about the cloth we've given our whole house to.
A striped cloth, woven by hand.
Sussi (also written soosi or susi) is a handloom fabric made of fine, lengthwise stripes in many colours. Traditionally it has a cotton warp and a silk (or silk-like mercerised) weft, which gives it a soft hand and a gentle sheen.
The stripes are not printed. Each one is a separate dyed yarn, set on the loom in a planned order. That is why sussi never fades the way a print does: the colour is the cloth.
The cloth of the Indus.
For generations, sussi was woven in the weaving towns of Sindh and southern Punjab, places like Hala, Nasarpur, Multan and Bahawalpur, and worn across the region.
Women wore it as shalwars and ghagras; it filled dowry trunks; men wore it as lungis. Each town had its own colour habits, and a practised eye could often tell where a sussi came from just by its stripes.
As factory-printed lawn took over, the handlooms went quiet. Today only a small number of weaving families still make true sussi, mostly for local markets. It's not in the malls. That is why we exist.
Slow by design.
Yarn is dyed in small batches and sun-dried. The warp is measured out thread by thread in the stripe order. A single suit length can hold well over a thousand threads. Then the weaver works the pit loom by hand: feet on the treadles, shuttle thrown across, the beater pulled in. Again and again.
A skilled weaver produces only a few metres a day. Compare that to a power loom which makes hundreds.
What you're really paying for.
- TimeDays of skilled hand work in every suit length.
- RarityA shrinking circle of weavers, and small runs of each weave.
- LongevityWoven colour doesn't wash off. Good sussi lasts years and softens with use.
- ComfortBreathable cotton body with a cool silky touch, made for our climate.
- LivelihoodEvery purchase keeps a loom working in a weaving family's home.
A tiny glossary
The lengthwise threads held tight on the loom. In sussi, this is where the stripes live.
The thread thrown across by the shuttle, binding the warp into cloth.
The traditional hand-and-foot operated pit loom used by sussi weavers.
The boat-shaped tool that carries the weft thread from side to side.
The finished edge of the cloth, often a different colour on sussi.
Gold- or silver-toned thread woven into festive sussi for a soft shine.
Three quick tests.
- Flip itTurn the cloth over. Woven stripes look the same on the back. Printed stripes don't.
- Look closeYou should see individual threads in each stripe, with tiny natural irregularities.
- Check the edgeA handloom selvedge is tight and slightly uneven, not a straight machine-cut line.
Treat it gently, keep it forever.
Hand or gentle cycle. Separately the first time.
Direct sun can dull natural dyes over time.
Iron on the reverse side to protect the sheen.
Mild detergent only. No harsh chemicals.