Interactive · Bhutanese textiles

Read the kira: five patterns from one photograph

Pick a kira in the photo. Drag across the panel below to compare the real cloth with a pattern we drew from it, using colours sampled from the photo. Then change the scale or the colours.

Five Bhutanese girls standing against a wooden wall, each wearing a silk jacket over a handwoven kira with a different pattern: fine banded stripes with star motifs, dark cloth with small diamonds, bold multicoloured stripes, a maroon plaid with large motifs, and pale lilac stripes

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PhotoPattern

Compare

Scale100% = photo

Colours

Recolour with

Outline one repeat

Patterns are simplified redrawings made by Best of Bhutan from the photograph, not weaving drafts. Colours were sampled from the photo's pixels, so light and shade affect them. Photo: Best of Bhutan image library. Royal Textile Academy guide → bestbhutan.com