Taat is a north Indian word for coarse, tightly woven sack cloth, the kind used to move grain, cement and produce. It describes the weave and the weight of the cloth rather than one particular fibre, which is why taat products turn up in jute, in cotton mixes and in recycled material.

Is taat the same as jute?

Taat and jute overlap but are not the same thing. Jute is a plant fibre; taat is a type of cloth, and in most of north India taat cloth does happen to be jute hessian. A taat product is not automatically jute, so ask before you assume.

Is taat the same as a Bengali tant or taant saree?

Taat and the Bengali taant are different traditions that sound alike. Taant in Bengal means fine cotton handloom, the cloth of the Tant saree; taat in the Hindi belt means coarse sack weave. This bag comes from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, not from Bengal.

How big is the bag and what fits inside?

The bag measures 40 x 30 x 6 cm, a wide, shallow tote. That holds an A4 file, a 13-inch laptop in a sleeve, a water bottle and a stole at the same time. It is sized for a working day rather than for travel.

Does it have a zip or a clasp?

It has no zip and no clasp, and the top stays open.

Can I wash a taat bag?

Wash a taat bag by hand, separately, and never in a machine. Dry it flat in shade rather than in direct sun, which fades the yellow. Keeping it out of damp matters more than washing it often.

Will it hold a laptop safely?

A laptop up to 13 inches fits the footprint, but the bag has no padding and no closure of its own. Use a sleeve inside it if you are carrying a machine, and carry something else on a wet day.

Is the diamond pattern woven in or embroidered on?

The diamond pattern reads as woven into the cloth on a supplementary weft rather than stitched on afterwards. The raised dots between the two columns are wool. Looking at the back of the panel is the quickest way to tell the two apart.

Does taat weaving carry a GI tag?

Taat weaving does not hold a Geographical Indication registration, and nothing on this product should be read as GI-certified. Hardoi district is listed under Uttar Pradesh's One District One Product scheme for handloom, which is a state programme and a separate thing from a GI.

How is this different from the orange taat handbag on the site?

The orange taat handbag is sold as a separate product at a different price, not as a colour option on this one. Check the size and price on whichever page you are buying from.

Who makes these bags?

These bags are made through Samuday Crafts, the craft enterprise of the HCL Foundation's Samuday programme in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh. The work is organised through weaver groups in the district rather than a single named maker.

Taat Handbag, Yellow | Hand-Woven Tote from Hardoi

Taat Handbag - Yellow

Rs. 1440

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Product Details

Taat is the coarse sack weave of north India, the cloth that carries grain to market. Weavers working with Samuday Crafts in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh put that same weave on the loom and build a carry bag from it, striped in fine gold against a pale ground. Down the front runs a column of diamonds worked in wool thread. It opens flat at the top, no zip and no clasp, and a magazine, a bottle and a slim laptop sit side by side inside.

Art TypeTaat Weaving

Packaging Dimension40X30X6

Materials & Care

Avoid exposure to moisture and direct sunlight to maintain shape and color. Handwash separately. Do not machine wash.

Product Disclosure

SKU: SD-TWHB-Y-01Style Code: SD-TWHB-YHSN Code: 42022210Region: HardoiState: Uttar pradesh

Curated by Samuday Crafts Pvt Ltd

Each piece is handcrafted, so slight variations in colour, texture and dimension are natural and celebrate its handmade origin.

What it carries: At 40 x 30 x 6 cm, it is a wide flat shape rather than a deep bucket. An A4 file, a 13-inch laptop in a sleeve, a bottle and a folded stole all go in without anything sitting proud of the rim. Not a bag for a week away. A bag for one day.

Where it works: An open-top bag suits the places where you set things down and pick them up again: a desk, a studio, a market stall, a train seat with the bag standing between your feet. The pale ground reads best over dark clothing, so navy, charcoal, olive and black do more for it than cream. The straps clear a shoulder over a coat.

Where it does not: There is no zip and no clasp. A crowded metro and a monsoon afternoon are both arguments for carrying something else that day, because the weave is open enough that fine rain will reach whatever is inside. Keep it away from damp and out of long direct sun, and take both literally: sun flattens the yellow, and damp is what makes any woven bag start to smell.

Care in use: Handwash separately. Never in a machine, and dry it flat in shade rather than on a line in the sun, because the yellow is the first thing to go. If the base softens with use, a cut piece of board laid inside will hold the shape without altering the bag.

The word before the cloth: Taat is a north Indian word for coarse sack weave, the cloth that grain, cement and potatoes move in. In the Hindi belt it usually points at jute hessian, which is why a search for taat cloth returns rolls of burlap. Bengal has a near-identical sounding word, taant, and it means something quite different: the fine cotton handloom behind the Tant saree. The two get mixed up constantly.

Setting the warp: What makes this piece a bag rather than a length of sacking begins on the loom, not at the sewing table. The warp is laid in narrow alternating bands, pale ground against fine gold, so the stripe is built into the cloth rather than printed on it afterwards. A stripe from the warp cannot rub off. Close warp spacing is also what gives the cloth enough body to stand up on its own when the bag is empty.

The diamond panel: Down the centre front, a column of concentric diamonds interrupts the stripe, with a row of small raised dots in the same wool running between the two columns. On this piece the diamonds read as supplementary weft, an extra thread carried across only where the pattern needs it, rather than as surface embroidery worked in after the cloth came off the loom. The back of the panel is what would settle it.

Building the bag: The woven panel is cut, the gusset seamed, and the straps cut from the same cloth so the stripe carries on up over the shoulder. Samuday Crafts, the HCL Foundation craft enterprise based in Hardoi, runs this work through weaver groups across the district.