The process of dyeing yarn takes up to 36 hours and begins like this!

The cotton yarn is washed and boiled...



...and thoroughly rinsed....



...and prepared to be put into the dyeing machines



The washed yarn is hung on spindles in the dyeing machine



The color recipe is mixed and put into the machine.  All dyes used are AZO free and certified as eco-friendly



The machine on the left is finished with it's coloring job, while on the right a new run is being prepared



The yarn bundles are spun around in the dye bath....



..in order to get an even coloring



Smaller quantities of yarn or a new color are dyed by hand in a separate bath



The finished yarn bundles are put in a centrifuge....



...to get rid of most of the moisture



The skeins are then hung up in a heat room to dry for approx. 24 hours.. 



This batch of yarn is clearly intended for a Christmas item!



The finished yarn is checked for color quality and eveness



The yarn is now ready to be transported to one of the weaving centers to be woven into something beautiful!

The weaving center at Kumbukgete is Selyn-owned, and employs some 40 women

The facade is a mix of mud and cement- not only environmentally friendly, but attractive

A mango grows in the garden of the center

Yarn from the dye factory destined to become either a sari....

...or a sarong....

...or a tablemat!

The yarn bundles are put onto spinning racks...

and spun around....

...and on to bobbins

A bicycle wheel works well in making the right sized bundles for the bobbin-fillers

Bobbins ready for warp making!

The bobbins feed onto the warp rack...

....and the warps are put onto the looms

The center weaves saris, sarongs, tablemats and runners

A sari takes three to five working days to make, depending on intricacy

Finished tablemats and runners ready for the showroom!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Indu sketches out the cutting blocks from the designer's original drawing

The blocks are individually crafted to get the right size and shape of each element of the product.

It's a process that can take several tries to get the right 'look'

A small sampling of Selyn's over 1000 fabrics

XXX is in charge of documenting the samples once they are finished..correct color, correct block, etc

A catepillar that turns into a butterfly under construction

Stuffing of the first sample

Embroidery of the face on the Tortoise and the Hare reversable product

Making sure the head on the tortoise is correct

The eyes waiting to be stitched onto the head of the tortoise in the Tortoise and the Hare

Stitching together the first prototype of the oven in our Selyna's Kitchen series

Work proceeding on a clown's clothing

And pillows being created for a European customer...always a lot to do in the Sample Section!

Swatches of just a few of Selyn's more popular fabrics

A Christmas wreath goes from paper to fabric

Some of the Christmas creations in the Sample Section for Christmas 2009

A voila!....the finished product

Glad to have it finished!

Smaller, more complicated shapes are cut by hand....

....which requires precision and strong hands!

Larger shapes are cut by band saw...

..which requires extra solid safety gloves!

The band saw can cut up to 20 layers of fabric at a time

 Cutting in a straight line through all that fabric requires a good eye

For those of you that might think Michael Jackson is still alive and working for Selyn...sorry, but no!

There are always offcuts, in all possible shapes, sizes and colors

All offcuts are collected, sorted, and used for another purpose... For example, we mix small offcuts with pulp to make decorative paper gift boxes for our two showrooms in Sri Lanka

There is always a good supply of larger offcuts, too, that are used in smaller items like string mobiles and smaller toys.  Finding a good use for these is always a challenge!

First installed in 2008, the Selyn embroidery machine has six heads

A sophistocated machine, it can do a wide variety of taske, like the dots on a dinosaur string mobile as shown here

The dots on the dinosaur are placed by hand, then the machine embroiders around them..in row after row..

...and this is what all those dots become!  Dino the Dinosaur string mobile!

Here the side panel of a cushion...guess what the next letter is!

And at the end of the day, lots of empty bobbins...to be filled up and used again!

Each of the seamstresses has a teacup in the lunch room...

...and each of them has a key to a locker for their bags as well!

 Stuffing the head of a Krazy Kid....

 ..and then comes attaching the hair...

....and then embroidering the eyes and mouth...

 ...lots of hand embroidery on many of Selyn's products, the most work intensive operation of all!

 Completed Krazy Kid heads waiting for their bodies...

 ...and legs waiting for their torsos!

And slippers for the Krazy Kid feet!

 Selyn employees about 130 seamstresses

 A fun string mobile made from offcuts....

 Do Not Disturb cow pillow starts its assembly process, here sewing the heads and attaching hair

 ..the completed heads waiting to have their faces stitched on...

 ..and the faces are being applied by hand, stitch by stitch

 Finished heads waiting for bodies...

 Straps by the meter for attachment to the cow pillow

 All that is missing now is to attach the head

 The feet of a hard-working seamstress

 Flower petals by the bunch.....

 ..become flowers on a string...

 Clipping off loose threads is one of the final operations

 It requires an eye for quality

 Toilet bags ready for ironing and packing

 An elephant pillow takes shape, head first

 Head finished, tail waiting to be attached

 Bodies waiting for head, tail and legs

 And legs waiting for bodies!

 All the pieces assembled...a popular item!

 Cords are made from thread at the factory

 Cords are used for these bookmarks as well as many other items

Hand stitching remains the most work intensive part of the product

 These green fish are destined to become pencil cases

 The body of the pencil case is sewn together, then the fish is attached

 Proper attachment of the zipper is quality checked

 The hard working horses of the toy factory

 Putting together a clown's costume

 Lots of small details make up a good product

 Not many straight lines in Selyn products, making the seamstress's job a tough one

 Each product takes quite a long time to master, needing to learn each stitch.  This is why small orders are a problem.  Time is needed to learn a pattern and get up to speed.

 Attention to detail is so important to get that quality look

 A clown's costume gets some loose threads clipped

 And in the end, the product is ironed

Another work horse of the Selyn factory

A spaghetti of strapping material!

All master shipping cartons are bought used from importers to Sri Lanka..recycling at its most practical!