NEPAL COMFORTERS

I had hoped to buy some fabric that was unique to Nepal when I was there, but that didn't happen.  Every day the small bus we traveled on passed through the busy, crowded streets of Kathmandu, Nepal and I would see one fabric shop after another.  But of course there was no stopping just so I could have a look.  I could just envision bolts and bolts of native fabrics calling out to me, with that call going unanswered.

Outside most of these fabric shops were sacks of cotton.  I soon discovered what these sacks of cotton were for and why there were so many fabric shops.

Rather than making traditional block pattern quilts in Nepal, they make whole cloth comforters.  These comforters are made with a top and bottom, sewn around three of the sides, then stuffed very full and thick with loose cotton batting, and the end sewn closed.  They are used nightly on their beds to keep them warm.  I slept under these comforters several times while I was in Nepal and they kept me warm and toasty.  The comforters are very thick and heavy too.

The cotton to stuff the comforters is sold in large 3'x4' sacks.  Since the cotton is quite compressed it needs to be fluffed up in order to fill each comforter.  I watched a man, who was crouched down on the ground, reach into the sack and grab a chunk of cotton, then he beat it with a long stick with a mallet-like wooden head and string attached.  The cotton chunk was soon a soft, fluffy bunch of loose cotton ready to stuff into the comforter.  Once the entire comforter was filled the opening was sewn closed.

After some time the comforters become compressed.  They simply open up the end, remove the cotton and beat it until it is fluffy again, then stuff it back into the comforter and sew it closed. 

One of the places I had the opportunity to sleep under one of these comforters was at the Sanctuary Lodge while trekking on a portion of the Annapurna Loop in the Himalayan Mountains.  The nights were very chilly, but I was quite warm and cozy sleeping under my handmade comforter.