Donate
Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai

Everything is Possible

Aadhi Learning Centre teaches weaving to people with special needs, and sells what they make.

See what is on the loomOur story
Four hundred warp threads stretched the length of a loom, a wooden beam crossing them
  • One of oneEvery handwoven piece is made once. No two are the same.
  • Made in ThiruvanmiyurWoven, printed, poured and packed at the centre in Chennai.
  • Held for 24 hoursChoose a piece and it is yours while you arrange payment.
  • 2 already soldPieces that have found a home, counted from real orders.
Saori · 佐織

A Japanese method with no fixed pattern and no such thing as a mistake. The weaver chooses each colour as they reach it.

A turmeric-gold stole, teal threads running its length
ST0098 · 216 cm
A terracotta and indigo stole from the same kind of warp, entirely different
ST0093 · 200 cm

Same loom. Same yarn. Two people. Nothing in common. That is not a marketing line — it is a straightforward consequence of how these are made, and it is why every piece here exists exactly once.

Who is at the loom

People learning a trade they can be paid for.

Weaving, craft, cooking, packing. The work is real, the products are sold, and the maker is paid for what sells. Saori is used in special education all over the world for one reason: it rewards expression instead of precision, so there is no way to get it wrong.

Where a maker and their family have agreed, their first name appears on the piece they wove. Where they have not, it says “our weaving team”. That choice belongs to them and can be withdrawn any day.

Read the full story
Close detail of teal yarn, the twist of the fibre visible
The shop

Handwoven, this week

See everything
Home Made Soap Goat Milk French Green Clay Lemon Grass
Home Made Soap Goat Milk French Green Clay Lemon Grass
SOA0021
₹110
Block-printed bag · BPB0071
ONE OF ONE
Block-printed bag · BPB0071
BPB0071
₹350
Candle - Green kesar saffron Tulip
Candle - Green kesar saffron Tulip
CAN0084
₹125
Block-printed bag · BPB0072
ONE OF ONE
Block-printed bag · BPB0072
BPB0072
₹300
Fridge magnet · FM00007
ONE OF ONE
Fridge magnet · FM00007
FM00007
₹75
Candle -Magentha with chocolate fragrance Rose Stand
Candle -Magentha with chocolate fragrance Rose Stand
CAN0071
₹125
Candle Bubble Green Bubble Gum - Small
Candle Bubble Green Bubble Gum - Small
CAN0050
₹100
Digital Printing Frame 01
Digital Printing Frame 01
DFRAME1
₹450

2 pieces have already found a home.

Collections

What the centre makes

Stoles made at the centreStoles60 piecesMats made at the centreMats14 piecesJewellery made at the centreJewelleryThe largest workshop at the centre. Beadwork and assembly, made in small runs.318 piecesSmall hangings made at the centreSmall hangings242 piecesBig hangings made at the centreBig hangings38 piecesThorans made at the centreThorans82 piecesGarlands made at the centreGarlands16 piecesRangoli made at the centreRangoli53 piecesDiyas made at the centreDiyas35 piecesDiya stands made at the centreDiya stands33 piecesTerracotta & stone art made at the centreTerracotta & stone art23 piecesDivine made at the centreDivine13 piecesManai made at the centreManai8 piecesBlock-printed bags made at the centreBlock-printed bags92 piecesDigital printing made at the centreDigital printing19 piecesGift envelopes made at the centreGift envelopes24 piecesBoxes & trays made at the centreBoxes & trays12 piecesMasala made at the centreMasala18 piecesCandles made at the centreCandles91 piecesSoap made at the centreSoap32 piecesRakhi made at the centreRakhi22 piecesBracelets made at the centreBracelets9 piecesBrooches made at the centreBrooches5 piecesHeadbands made at the centreHeadbands6 piecesFur products made at the centreFur products21 piecesFridge magnets made at the centreFridge magnets92 piecesCorporate gifts made at the centreCorporate gifts8 piecesFor an occasion made at the centreFor an occasion6 pieces
Inside the centre

Six trades run at the centre. Everything in the shop came off one of them.

Saori weaving

Stoles and mats on a Japanese loom with no fixed pattern and no such thing as a mistake. It rewards expression rather than precision, which is why no two come out alike.

Jewellery

The largest workshop, and the busiest. Beadwork and assembly, made in small runs and sold in ones.

Block printing

Carved blocks on cotton — shopping bags, vegetable bags with compartments, pencil pouches. Printed, cut and stitched at the centre.

Candles and soap

Poured and cured by hand. Glycerin, goat milk and cold-process soaps; candles in shapes the makers choose themselves.

Masala

Spice blends ground and packed to order — garam, chai, sandwich, pani puri, milk, buttermilk, biryani, pav bhaji, chat.

Festive craft

Thorans, rangoli, garlands, diya stands, wall hangings and terracotta. The range the centre lives on between festivals.

Watch them workAbout the centre

The centre is in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, and visitors are welcome any weekday.

How to order

Four steps. No card needed.

STEP 01Choose your piece

We hold it for you for 24 hours, so nobody else can buy it while you decide.

STEP 02Tell us where to send it

Name, phone, address. No account and no password to remember.

STEP 03Pay by UPI

One tap opens GPay, PhonePe or Paytm with the amount and order number already filled in.

STEP 04We confirm and post

A confirmation and a tracking number, within one working day.

More about ordering
Other ways in

If you are not buying today.

Three things that help, in the order they help most.

Order for your officeReturn gifts, festival hampers and corporate orders. A bulk order keeps the workshops busy for weeks rather than days.Give time or a skillPhotography, a working morning, help at a stall, an introduction. Skills the centre cannot buy are worth more than a small donation.DonateFor the part no sale covers — the materials and the hours that go into somebody learning, before anything they make is ready to sell.
Donate to the centreTalk to somebody

May we count visits with Google Analytics? Nothing here needs it. What we collect.