ahmedabad to understand anything it is important to delve into its origins the thirdyear students of textile design from national institute of fashion technology gandhinagar nift as a part of their education have travelled to various parts of gujarat to research on the ageold crafts of the state like ashavali weave zari zardozi and tie and dye the craft research and documentation by the students are currently on display at the institute craft research is a part of the textile design syllabus for which the students travel and learn about the craft from the artisans themselves a group of students went to ridrol near mansa to understand the ashavali and surat brocades the use of coloured yarns and zari woven in intricate pattern are the core of these textiles the weaving process of both ashavali and surat brocades is different the former is hand woven in pit looms the other is machine made said rutvi sheth a fifth semester student of textile design another group of students had travelled to surat to get an insight on the biggest zari industry of india we got to know that apart from embroidery zari is woven into cotton into footwear even in nail paints at raikhad we studied the process of creating the regal zardozi embroidery by documenting the craft we are aiming to bring these sidelined crafts in the limelight said aashna shah another student from the course to study tie and dye students went to kutch additionally individual students took up the task of creating surfaces using textile techniques like gathering shirring and ruffling