What does the word ikat describe?
Ikat is a method of weaving that uses dyed threads to produce coloured patterns. The same word also names the fabric made by that method. The home page lists the other textile and craft guides on this site. Ikat is therefore both a technique and a type of cloth. When you read a label or a listing, check whether the word refers to the method or to the finished fabric.
How are the threads tied before weaving?
In ikat the resist is formed by binding individual yarns, or bundles of yarns, with a tight wrapping applied in the desired pattern. The bound yarn is dyed, and the wrapped parts resist the dye. After dyeing, the bindings are removed and the yarns are woven into cloth. The pattern therefore exists in the threads before the cloth takes shape.
What is weft ikat?
In weft ikat the pattern is carried by the weft, the threads that run across the cloth. In Bali this weft ikat method is called endek, and the weft threads are dyed with a pattern before the textile is woven. When you compare two weft ikat cloths, look at both faces and check how cleanly each motif is formed. Compare the same motif across several pieces before deciding which one has the stronger result.
What is double ikat?
Double ikat is a technique in which both the warp and the weft are resist-dyed before weaving. The warp runs lengthwise and the weft crosswise, so the pattern has to line up in both directions. Geringsing cloth is made this way, with both warp and weft bound and dyed before weaving.
Where is double ikat woven in Bali?
Double ikat is woven in Tenganan, a Bali Aga village in east Bali. Geringsing cloth comes from Tenganan Pegerinsingan, Karangasem, East Bali. For more on this cloth and its village, read the page on geringsing double ikat in Tenganan. For the wider picture of which Bali villages make which crafts, see craft villages in Bali.
What makes double ikat demanding?
Double ikat is a demanding process, because both sets of threads must be bound and dyed so that the design lines up once the cloth is woven.
How can you check an ikat cloth before buying?
Start by asking which threads carry the pattern. If only the weft does, the cloth is weft ikat. If the pattern lines up in both directions, it is double ikat. Ask the seller how the threads were bound, and whether the pattern was made before weaving or added to finished cloth. Written answers are easier to compare later than what you remember from a stall. The same questions work for other crafts, such as the silver jewellery of Bali.
How can you learn ikat before you visit?
Museum collections are a useful place to compare examples before you visit a village or a shop. Look for photographs that show the reverse of a cloth as well as the front, because the back shows how the threads sit. Make a short list of questions before you go, so that each stall or workshop is asked the same things.