weaving geringsing

weaving geringsing – 

tie-dyed warp and weft create

intricate design

Having done some weaving myself, I am fascinated by the woven cloth of Bali. Traditional cloth is still an important part of Balinese rituals. Special headdresses, sashes and sarongs are worn for major ceremonies such as weddings, tooth-filing, and the many odalan fesitivals that mark the founding of a temple. The indigenous textile technique is ikat. Cotton or silk thread is woven on either a backstrap or a foot-pedal loom. However, the complexity and beauty of ikat derives from an intricate process of dying the yarn before weaving. Ikat derives from the Indonesian verb "to tie" or "to bind," and the technique is a complex tie-dye process with three variations. In warp ikat, the warp thread is threaded on the loom and then tied with dye-resistant twine into a pattern before being dyed. In weft ikat, or endek, the warp is left plain while the weft threads are dyed to form the design when woven. In double ikat, or geringsing, both the warp and the weft are dyed before weaving. Warp ikat is the technique practiced everywhere else in Indonesia, but in Bali it is primarily weft ikat. The highly refined technique of double ikat is so rare that it is practiced in only three areas of the world: Japan, India and the Bali village of Tenganan. Ikat designs are slightly fuzzy and delicately colored compared with the bold designs of batik sarongs. But I love the subtle beauty of ikat, partly because I appreciate the work that goes into making it. One geringsering sarong can take five years to complete!