Tribal Ikat weaving

Ikat is a process used to produce patterned woven fabrics. Our recently introduced YS856 is made using this traditional technique.  The basis of the Ikat style is how the yarn is dyed and arranged on the warping drum in preparation for weaving. In our YS856 pictures below you can see how the warp yarns have been dyed in sections using navy, red and green dye. Each bundle of dyed yarns makes about a one inch width of woven fabric. The bands running across the width, or weft are dyed the same colours but not in the Ikat style. This is known as warp Ikat weaving. You can also get weft Ikat but this requires more time and attention as each weft thread needs placing precisely by the weaver. There are also double Ikat designs employing both warp and weft in the pattern.

At the heart of Ikat is a process known as “Resist dyeing” where bye a number of threads that make up the warp, or length, are tightly bound together over a short distance, anything from a fraction of an inch to a few inches, and then left unbound for the required length. These bound sections resist dyeing and remain uncoloured whereas the unbound sections are exposed to and take up the dye.  The binding process is repeated at intervals along the length of the bundle of yarn.  The complexity of the designs can vary enormously and can include many colours.

The Ikat style of making patterned fabric is centuries old and seems to have evolved independently in several regions of the world though it is best known in S America,  S E Asia  and W Asia. The word Ikat is itself from the Indonesian language and can be the nouns:  cord, thread or knot as well as the verbs to tie or to bind. There are some examples of very complex Ikat designs from some years hence.