The Ikat Process
Extract from http://www.ihot.com
Choosing a Pattern and Planning the Warp Layout
My first project a "leaf pattern" consisting of a
central "stem" with a three element pattern set on each side. The elements were
composed of an "A" and a "B", The third element was an "A", but was to be
shifted later when the warp was wound onto the loom.
Winding The Warp and Tying the Areas That Will
Be Resists
To save on the tying effort, the warp was folded
in half and each design unit was grouped together. The illustration is from Ikat
II, by Lydia Van Gelder (Used with her gracious permission.). It
shows the warp being folded both horizontally as well as vertically. After the
tying and dying the warp is unfolded and spread out on dowels the with of the
loom along with the other warp stripes in the planned order.
I used plastic tree tying tape to make my ties. It proved to be somewhat stiff
and difficult to place accurately - - I would not recommend it. Kasuri Dye
Works in Berkeley, CA sells a plastic ikat tying tape that is far superior.
I marked the "A" and "B" unit lengths on a piece of cardboard to use as a
template so that all the ties were the proper size.
After all the ties were in place, the warp was chained and prepared for dying.
It was first soaked in the mordant solutions -- Alum, then a solution of manure
"tea", then alum again. The dye was fresh walnut hulls mixed about 50-50 with
water and simmered. The chain was put into the hot dye and left for several
hours. I did not get the strong coffee brown I hoped for. This was probably due
to the cotton not having been washed clean enough after spinning. However,
after seeing the harmonious result of the cloth, I am very happy with the
effect.
To keep track of the count, pairs of yarn were
twined at each end of the warp chain. After the warp had been folded, I twined
the ends again -- this time into groups of four to keep the design units
separated. The photo shows the first and second sets of twining. The length of
the pattern units and their distance apart were marked on a card to serve as a
template measuring where to place the ties.
Dressing the Loom and Weaving
I threaded from back to front using lease sticks
to be sure the ends stayed in order as they were being wound on. Click
here to read about the "glitch" in threading.The lease sticks also made the
threading of the heddles fairly quick and easy. The pattern on the loom
was beautiful -- it made weaving a pleasure. There were minimal breaks
and no tension problems. I have found that using a temple minimizes the wearing
on the threads at the selvages. I'm not sure if it prevents excessive draw-in.
I move it every inch or two.
The sett was 28 EPI for the ikat portions and 24 EPI for the plain stripes.
With the fine threads, in the 8 dent reed, there is considerable bunching and
openness to the web. While weaving, it is disconcerting to see the fabric look
so open -- almost like curtain netting. After removing from loom, the
reed tracks still show quite plainly.
After washing in hot water in the automatic washer, the threads came
together into a lovely fabric. On this first project, the ikat elements were
not well lined up, but the cloth's over-all effect is gorgeous! And after all,
I'm the only one who really knows what the original concept was.
The cloth was made into a thigh length tunic with piping around the V-neck and
a golden tan rayon lining -- It's quite elegant. I modeled it at the CNCH
(Conference of Northern Calif. Handweavers) conference in Grass Valley, June
1998.
