This fabric is based on a handwoven piece made from pure Tibetan sheep's wool to produce a fabric called Sherma. Sherma is one of the finest woven textiles made in Tibet. This super-thin wool takes much longer to spin than other, thicker wools, and is one of the thinnest wools that can be created on a loom. After spinning, the wool is dyed using natural plant-based dyes and then woven into strips. The strips are stitched together to form the traditional Tibetan apron called pangden. These aprons are characterized by a three panel, multi-colored stripe design.
The pangden communicates two aspects of a Tibetan woman's identity. Traditionally, only married women wore aprons, so the apron generally serves as a mark of marital status. Second, the stripe patterns and colors are unique to different regions of Tibet, thus revealing the woman's origin. This pangden is from the Panam County of the Shegatse Region in the southwestern part of Tibet.
