Weaving Ikat

I've known for a long time how Ikat is made, in theory.  But, until now I never saw it actually being made. Southeast Asia still makes things using old traditional methods and it is such a privilege to be able to see these people at work.  

I got to visit two cotton Ikat factories in Bali.  They weave their fabric with cotton grown in India.

This is the piece of cotton Ikat I bought for myself. And even buying it from the factory with a strong American dollar it was still about $22 a meter.  But, after learning how it is made that seems like a incredible bargain.

I have 2 1/2 meters. I'm thinking of making a jacket. Whatever I make I want it to be a very timeless deign. I don't want it to go out of style!

So to make Ikat fabric, the threads are dyed before weaving using a kind of tie dye technic   instead of printing or painting a design on after fabric is woven.  To do this, the thread is wrapped onto a frame and the pattern is made by tying off small sections of the thread with plastic tape that will keep the dye from penetrating at these points.

This design is partially tied.

Here is an example of another design ready to dye.

Some Ikat has the warp (lengthwise threads) dyed and the weft (crosswise threads) are solid color.  Some Ikat has the opposite, solid color warp and tie dyed weft. And some have dying in both directions.  The fabric I saw was weft dyed.

Once the threads are all tied up they can be dyed.  I got to see the empty dye vats, but no dying was happening that day.

Here are many hanks of thread drying after getting dyed.

This will make a white and colored design like the one being woven below.

To get more colors, like the piece of fabric I purchased, very intense dye has to be brushed on the white sections after the initial dying has dried.

This will make a multi-colored fabric like the one being woven here.

The looms are all in spaces that are half outside.  Bali is really close to the equator and it is very warm all year. I imagine that is the most comfortable place to work.  But in this covered space the sounds are so interesting.  All the looms are wooden and quite old and there is this pleasing clacking sound.  I took a short video showing 2 people spinning with all the looms in the background.  You can hear the clacking. The spinning wheels are made from bicycle wheels.

In this same factory, they were also making Ikat using a new less expensive method. 

The design is airbrushed on the the warp threads.  This technique requires no tying, or dipping/rinsing/drying and adding extra color.  Plus, it is then woven with a mechanical loom.
This section of the factory was painfully loud.

On YouTube there are a lot of videos showing Ikat being made.  If you have time, it's fun to watch several.  This is the one I liked the best.  It's actually Ikat silk being made in Thailand.  But it's the same method.