What is Hemp and How is Hemp Fabric Made?

What is Hemp?

Well, I would simply like to mention Hemp as the sober cousin of Marijuana, the spoilt brat in the family. Hemp, on the other hand, is the progressive child. So, all the folks out there looking to roll a joint out of a bag or a t-shirt just calm down. The hemp products are made of hemp fabric. To all the silent majority planning to get high on hemp considering it same as marijuana, get this straight, the only high you get out from hemp fabric is the moral high.

In this article, we will be discussing how the hemp fabric is made and how it is further converted into a product such as bags, hats, t-shirt, kurta, or a pant. The hippie and the hemp fashion has revolutionized the hemp fabric industry in Nepal. Industrial hemp is cultivated with proper organic and controlled farming in the region. Hemp, the fashion equivalent boring sibling of cannabis has gained bad rep but actually is one of the most productive and useful materials grown in the region and has become of the source of income for many underprivileged communities.

                                    Image: Hemp Plant and its initial processing for converting it into a fabric

What is Hemp Fabric?

Hemp is actually cultivated across the world and used to make clothes, ropes, and many other useful items. As far as the hippie clothing is concerned, hemp has its own share of importance establishing and manufacturing the clothes and its trend.

Hemp Fabric is a type of bast fibre and is a natural fibre derived from the stems of hemp plants. Hemp Fabric has various natural advantages, it keeps you cool in summer, warm in winter, and also protects you from the UV rays.

Similar to linen in nature, the fabric produced from hemp can also be blended with other natural fabrics to create unique and stylish bags, kurtas, and other products. It has the softness of cotton and is one of the most durable fabrics produced around the world.

Image Source: Shutter Stock/Ministry of Hemp

How is Hemp Fabric Produced?

What is that green leaf all about and how do those leaves from the plant make a fabric? This is a real concern for many and I also had the same curiosity before having seen the hemp fabric production process for myself.

Actually, it isn’t the leaves that are converted into hemp fabric, it’s the stalk of the plant to be accurate. The long strands of fibre are extracted from the stalk of the plant. The fibres are extracted from the stalk of the plant through a process called retting. Later, these extracted fibres are spun together unceasingly using machine or handmade tools to produce a long continuous thread and then thus produced fabric is ready to be woven into clothes, bags, hats, or wallets.

There is no chemical used in this vigorous process of mechanically produced organic hemp fabric. However, many companies have commercialized the hemp industry and they intend to grow and produce it chemically but here in Nepal and our sources remain intact of commercialization.

Thamel Shop Eco-Friendly hemp products are made from organically grown local Nepali Hemp Fabric. If you are a vegan, environmentalist, then you would find our hemp bags, wallets, and hats totally made on your ideal as we also share the same view.

Is Hemp a Sustainable Product?

It’s on no account fluke that hemp abides the cognomen cannabis. A compactly growing bush, hemp factually congests out any other plants grown close by. This denotes harsh chemical elements; pesticides or herbicides aren’t essential. Hemp on the other hand, singlehandedly, naturally diminishes pests, so no insecticides are required. Astoundingly it also returns 60-70% of the nutrients it takes from the soil.

Not purely is hemp kind on the earth, it also desires very little amount of water, particularly in comparison to cotton, which, as per an article on Slate uses “about 50 per cent more water per season than hemp.” But that’s not all. According to the same article, “When you add processing into the equation, cotton uses more than four times as much water as hemp.”

Hemp moreover needs a comparatively insignificant area of land to cultivate. According to the Guide to Sustainable Textiles, it grows double than cotton in the same area of land and also requires less water and also gives back to nature. So from an ecological and conservational viewpoint, the paybacks of hemp are pretty clear and can be termed as sustainable.

Additional Information on the Thamel Shop Hemp Products

The hemp fabric used in manufacturing the Thamel Shop Hemp Products such as Eco-Friendly Bags, Hats, Wallets is the same produced by the locals in the Himalayan region of Nepal.

The fabric or the thread is used by our locally supported manpower to craft a product out of it. Our employees dedicated to your service in the production of these Thamel Shop Bags, Hats, Wallets and more are from underprivileged communities. We, here at Thamel Shop initially recruit people having no employment or who come from a family of very low income and troubled financial status. We train them and turn them into an employed tax paying craftsman.

The Thamel Shop stylish and trendy Hemp Back Packs, Hemp Shoulder Bags, Hemp Bum Bags, Hemp Wallets, Hemp Hats come in various sizes and designs. We produce eco-friendly hemp products, handmade in Nepal and they are handstitched to attain durability.

Image: Thamel Shop Hemp Hat and a Hemp Bag

Lastly, take a quick look at this short video from Creation Nepal for greater insight into the making of hemp fabric and a product out of it.