Pick up any decor magazine and you will find this zig zag motif somewhere in a room. As drapes, as upholstery, as cushion covers and even on dinner plates and picture frames. Over the last year, there has been such an ikat explosion in interiors that international decor magazines are featuring it in their Trend Alert sections and giving readers ideas on how to incorporate it in their homes. Clearly, the ancient art is alive and well in today’s times.
The world may be discovering it now but ikat has been woven in our saris for centuries, says designer Sarita Handa, whose eponymous brand and store has an entire range of ikat furnishings on offer. “We have tried to reinterpret this traditional technique into modern motifs and dramatic colour combinations to suit contemporary interiors,” she says. So have a host of other designers and brands. Log on to any online portal for furnishings and you will find many options in ikat.
When decorating with ikat, try not to go overboard no matter how tempted you get. An overdose of this pattern can get a bit overpowering so it’s always better to err in the direction of too little rather than too much. If using it in drapes, you can at best bung in a cushion or two. If using it as upholstery, keep the drapes and cushions in solid shades. Likewise, when using it as a bedspread, don’t repeat the pattern in the curtains. Follow these simple tips and watch your room pack a patterned punch.
Derived from the Indonesian word mengikat (“to tie”), ikat is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp and weft fibres prior to dyeing. Bindings, which resist dye penetration, are applied to the threads in the desired patterns and the threads are dyed. Alteration of the bindings and the dyeing of more than one colour produce elaborate, multi-coloured patterns. When all of the dyeing is finished the bindings are removed and the threads are ready to be woven into cloth. The defining characteristic of ikat is the dyeing of patterns, by means of bindings, into the threads before cloth construction, the weaving of the fabric, takes place. Herein lies the difference between ikat and tie-dye. In tie-dye the fabric is woven first and the resist bindings are then applied to the fabric which is dyed.
Ikat is done mainly in three techniques—warp, weft and double. In warp ikat, which is the simplest to make, the patterns are clearly visible in the warp threads on the loom even before the plain coloured weft is introduced to produce the fabric. In weft ikat, it is the weaving or weft thread that carries the dyed patterns which only appear as the weaving proceeds. Here, the weaving proceeds much slower than in warp ikat as the passes of the weft must be carefully adjusted to maintain the clarity of the patterns.
Double ikat is a technique in which both warp and the weft are resist-dyed prior to stringing on the loom. Double ikat is only produced in three countries, India,
Japan and Indonesia. The double ikat of Japan is woven in the Okinawa islands where it is called tate-yoko gasuri. In Indonesia, it is only made in one small village, Tenganan in east Bali. The double ikat of India predominantly is woven inGujarat and is called patola.
Some styles of ikat favour a blurred appearance, such as the Guatemalan ikat. South American and Indonesian ikat, on the other hand, are known for such a high degree of warp alignment that it may resemble printed, rather than woven cloth.
So, now that you know your ikat, try picking up these different styles in your travels and create your own ikat idiom.
