What Is Anikat Design?

What Is Anikat Design?

Ikat, or Ikat Design, is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs a resist dyeing process on the warp fibers, the weft fibers, or in the rare and costly 'double ikat' both warp and weft, prior to dyeing and weaving.

In ikat, the resist is formed by binding bundles of threads with a tight wrapping applied in the desired pattern. The threads are then dyed. The bindings may then be altered and the thread bundles dyed again with another color to produce elaborate, multicolored patterns. When the dyeing is finished the bindings are removed and the threads are woven into cloth. In other resist-dyeing techniques such as tie-dye and batik, the resist is applied to one face of the woven cloth, whereas in ikat the threads are dyed before weaving, and both faces are essentially identical in appearance.

Ikat is a weaving style common to many world cultures. Likely, it is one of the oldest forms of textile decoration.

Ikat is most characteristic of Indonesia, though ikats have also been woven in central Asia, India, andUzbekistan. You can find Uzbekistan ikat designs at UzbekAlive. Double ikats are produced in a few places including the Okinawa islands of Japan, the village of Tenganan in Bali, and the villages of Puttapaka and BhoodanPochampally in India.

The introduction of the term ikat into European language is attributed to Rouffaer. [6] Ikat is now a generic English loan-word to describe either or both the process and the cloth itself- wherever and however the fabric may be woven or stylized through ethnic or the weaver's motives.

Ikat is an Indonesian language word, it comes from the Malay-Indonesian word for "tie"; it was introduced into European sources of textile technology and history in the early twentieth century when Dutch scholars began paying attention to the rich textile traditions of the Netherlands Indies, the present-day Indonesia. Depending on whether the tied fibers are applied to the warp or weft, the technique is identified as either warp ikat or weft ikat. A third variety, double ikat, combines both warp- and weft-tied resist. For the pattern to be visible, the resist-dyed thread system has to be the prominent one, so for warp ikat, the weave has to be warp-faced, and weft ikat needs a weft faced structure, which means that either warp or weft is predominantly visible. Plain weave is especially suitable for showing the ikat's design, but for weft ikat, a twill weave may also be used. Double ikat, where the design is built up from both systems, should ideally by woven in a balanced weave, with warp and weft equally visible. All textile fibers may be used for ikat, although silk and cotton are the most common ones.

Ikat floral patterns are traditionally used in Europe on Mallorca, Spain.

India, Japan and many South-East Asian nations such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines and Thailand have weaving cultures with long histories of Ikat production.

Ikat weaving styles vary widely. Many design motifs may have ethnic, ritual or symbolic meaning or have been developed for export trade. Traditionally, ikat are symbols of status, wealth, power and prestige. Because of the time and skill involved in weaving ikat, some cultures believe the cloth is imbued with magical powers.

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