IKAT - TECHNIQUE & STORY

A happy weaver at her loom

Weaving with a backstrap loom.

Ikat (literally "to Bind" in Indonesian languages) is a dyeing technique from Indonesia used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the fabric prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. Wikipedia

Indonesian Ikat tells the stories of a culture that binds the past to the present, and instills a moral code and world view to future generations.

In our Ikat blog we will venture into the the methods of creating ikat and will explain the meanings of the motifs.

Guest wearing traditional ikat arrive for an engagement party

Attendees wearing sarong arriving for Belis or dowry ceremony.

Sikka ikat is usually used as a woman's sarong or utang, men's sarong or lipa, and as a headband or lesu. Even so, this cloth is generally more widely used by woman. According to the Sikka people, ikat has a philosophy, du'a utang ling labu weling, which means that the sarong and clothes of every woman must be valuable.

Weaving starts with preparing the cotton to be made into thread

A cotton gin for removing seeds from the cotton boll.

The process of making Sikka ikat takes quite a long time. Starting from preparing the equipment, the process of getting cotton fiber, making the fiber into yarn, the process of tying on the thread, natural dyeing, composing, to weaving the whole process is done traditionally.

A weaver next to a drawing of the motif

Mama Servas with design template

Mama Servas has woven many sarongs with various designs. Her mother taught her to weave since she was a young girl. The first step in making sarong is tying the motifs, or in Sikka it is called plapa. The thread will be stretched and then the weaver starts to make the design by tying the threads.

After the threads are ikat dyed they are arranged on the loom

The dyed warp threads are arranged on the loom frame.

After making the design it will come to the coloring process. The dying process also takes a long time for the color to stick well to the yarn completely. After that the thread is stretched again so that it fan be arranged accordingly to the motif that has been made.

Ikat motifs are about the meaning of man and his surroundings

This is an example of an already made sarong by Mama Servas. As we can see, the motif in this ikat is Man with Horse. This motif implies the horse as an animal that is very close to humans and can help humans work.

This motif is about man and his faith

The next sarong motif is the Angel motif and is one of the motifs found in modern Sikka sarongs. The Angle motif symbolizes a heavenly being that is kind and acts as an intermediary between heaven and the human world.