Here are some details about my latest weaving project, Ikat Dishtowel II and a little about myself too.

WHAT IS IKAT?

Ikat is fabric that has been patterned through the process of resist tying and dyeing threads before weaving them. The result is subtly blurred patterns that show vertically in the warp, horizontally in the weft, or both. The whole thing is a highly planned and calculated affair. In Japan ikat is known as kasuri.

I learned to dye linen threads with Takayuki Ishii at his farmhouse studio in Japan, 2019. http://awonoyoh.com

Fortunately I was able to take classes with indigo dye teacher Takayuki Ishii and shibori master Hiroshi Murase in 2019 which gave me the courage and basic skills to set-up an indigo vat, resist tie patterns and dye thread. Combined with my developing skills as a weaver, I had all the elements needed to dive into ikat kasuri.

I got a couple books on ikat (by Jun Tomita and by Van Gelder), which I have to reread because to be honest I couldn’t understand the directions that well. I also watched a few YouTube videos and looked at photos on John Marshall’s website. There seemed to be so many tiny (but likely important) details missing in the very complex process of measuring, marking, dyeing fiber, and dressing a loom, but I figured that I’d learn those details while doing it, making mistakes, and fixing the mistakes the next time. As someone who likes to plan everything ahead of time to avoid surprises, it was definitely an uncomfortable process—trust that sometime in the future awkward repetition will lead to hard earned “perfection”.

Here is a sample group of resist tied threads, partially unwrapped. I used vinyl hazard tape.

HOW IS IKAT MADE?

A little about the process—Ikat Dishtowel II is made of warp ikat, meaning that only the vertical warp threads are dyed in a pattern, while the horizontal weft threads are a solid color. I measured the warp threads (vertical threads) to the full length of the 13 yard warp, then tied them in stripes to block the dye out, like the example in the picture above—something like 100 resist ties. The wrapped threads were dyed ~6 dips in the indigo vat, untied and rinsed. When dry, they were put together in groups to make the pattern.

Ikat Dishtowel II, 2020 www.woodspirithandcraft.com

If you look carefully, you can see that this pattern is made up of only 4 elements: blue threads, white threads, and 2 types of stripes. The stripes were tied together, I simply shifted one set to create the opposite stripe. The real challenge was placing all the threads in order on the back rod without going crazy, tangling everything up, or losing the cross which orders all the threads. I had 13 yards blue threads, 13 yards white threads, 13 yards of stripe A and 13 yards of stripe B in front of me. I picked the planned number of threads of each color in order—the pattern was White-Blue-White-Blue-Ikat A-Blue-Ikat B-Blue, and so on—do you see it? I imagine after doing this process many times, ordering threads will go more smoothly.

WINDING THE WARP ONTO THE BACK OF THE LOOM

After the threads were placed in the order of the pattern, the next challenge is winding up the 13 yard warp onto the loom while keeping the pattern—particularly the sets of stripes—relatively aligned across the cloth. The threads might have already been off due to uneven measuring on the warping board, uneven wrapping of the resist ties, or shrinkage during the dyeing and rinsing process. Threads can also stretch unevenly when winding them onto the back of the loom and throw the pattern further and further off as the winding progresses. Combine this with a few threads breaking on the way and you will end up with irregularities in the pattern.

Here is the warp being wound onto the back beam of the loom.

You can see these imperfections in the next picture. Again more experience will likely iron out those errors.

Can you see the imperfections in the stripe alignment—both in the small groups and across the cloth?

Each individual warp thread goes through its own heddle which lifts it up and down during weaving. The warp threads also go in pairs through the reed which keeps the threads properly spaced.

THE WEFT THREADS

The weft threads (the horizontal threads in the fabric) need planning too. Each time the thread passes right or passes left for cloth 17 inches wide, roughly 17 inches are used. How many passes (called picks) will be made for cloth 13 yards long? That is the amount of blue thread that needs to be measured and dyed. The undyed linen is measured into skeins, dyed, rinsed, then wound onto bobbins. In this picture at left my 20 gallon Red Wing crock turned indigo fermentation vat is in the background in a heated box. Skeins of linen are in the foreground airing between dips.

After airing, rinsing, and drying, the thread is wound onto bobbins that Jarrod turned for me, ready to load into the shuttle for weaving.

Weft threads being dyed, 2020

Wooden bobbins loaded with dyed linen for weaving.

I just love looking at that cloth rolled up!

TIME TO WEAVE

After my loom is properly “dressed” and my shuttle loaded with a bobbin, the easy part of pressing the pedals and throwing the shuttle back and forth for 13 yards begins, roughly 18,000 passes. I play my music and settle into the rhythm of weaving.

When the warp is all woven, the cloth is pulled off the loom, inspected, threads snipped or repaired, cut and sewn into dishtowels, washed, ironed and advertised for sale. After they are sold, they are sent to do their aesthetic and utilitarian work in the kitchen.

INSPIRATIONS & OTHER PROJECTS

I am very attracted to antique textiles and use them to inspire my future projects. Loosely replicating these cloth patterns is a way to learn some things. The first Ikat Dishtowel I made was inspired by ikat flammé fabric from 18th century France.

Ikat Dishtowel II was based on vintage Japanese kasuri kimono cloth.

*IKAT DISHTOWEL II, 2020 www.woodspirithandcraft.com*

Some of my projects have been original designs—the indigo fade linen shawls are an example.

TEXTURE & CLOTH LOVE

My mother strongly influenced my appreciation of fabric and natural materials. She admired, collected, and wore folk textiles since before I was born and was also quite a fashionista in her youth in her native country of Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.

I became obsessed with indigo textiles in my teens and remember fawning over rolls of cloth at Kasuri Dyeworks in Berkeley, CA. I tried my hand at many fiber related hobbies over the years: knitting, growing flax and indigo, dyeing, spinning, felting, sewing costumes, sashiko, etc. I had never considered weaving until I met Jarrod and transitioned from teaching kids to the world of traditional craft. My friend passed along a loom to me and I learned to weave from a book Jarrod gave me. Becoming more ambitious with each project, I wove a series of handkerchiefs and pocket squares, some cotton napkins, ikat dishtowels, a couple of linen shawls and of course I have a long list of future projects.

My next project will be a bath mat inspired by this photograph of 18th century ikat fabric.

There is a huge learning curve involved in making and understanding cloth. For beginners like me, handweaving is slow. With each project I learn how to be a little more efficient. Ikat is especially labor intensive and takes patience between idea and finished project. It’s an exciting challenge—so many variables are possible with the smallest of changes. With handweaving my idea can become something tangible.

As a tactile person, textures are always speaking to me. I love the texture of linen and other bast fibers. I am learning to handspin cotton and love the irregular texture of handspun thread. I also recently learned backstrap weaving. I am slowly building up techniques which I think are leading me to next steps. I don’t know exactly where I’m going with cloth, but it’s exciting to continue finding out.

*Aizenkobo Pocket Square, cotton, 2019 www.woodspirithandcraft.com*

More about Ikat and Kasuri:

Kurume Kasuri: http://www.sakataorimono.com/kurume_kasuri.html

Ikat, Kasuri, and E-gasuri Background and Techniques by Jeffrey Krauss: http://e-gasuri.com/exhibit/krauss-presentation.pdf

Japanese Kasuri: http://nationalclothing.org/asia/28-japan/250-japanese-kasuri-–-japanese-tie-dye-textile-similar-to-ikat.html

French Ikat Flamme: https://www.textiletrunk.com/ikat-and-flamme-fabric

Diving into Ikat Kasuri

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