FILIPINO CRAFTSMANSHIP ย - THE ART OF TRADITIONAL WEAVING
Over the first few years, the traditional art of weaving has made it into the news. The Philippines, a country with a rich and long history in traditional silk weaving and production has grabbed the spotlight. Even today, the stilt houses of Philippine villages are remembered for their traditional wooden looms.
In general, the art of silk weaving is practised mainly by women and eventually this tradition is passed on to the daughter by her mother. Unfortunately, as we are moving towards modernisation and digitization, and the skill set of this traditional art is ruthlessly diminishing. Currently, silk weavers are abandoning their craft and moving toward city life in order to seek a livelihood.
At inabel shop, we have taken a positive and progressive step toward the preserving and reviving of skilled art. This is to uplift the spirit of traditional silk weavers and bring their mastery and technique to present before the world.
In this blog, we will help you understand the 'not so easy to master' - the art of silk weaving.
Silk Production Process โ
The Philippine process of manufacturing silk-based products is available from the most affordable ones to the most luxury and premium ones. Some of the products are made from the rare Golden silk while the others are developed using regional silk sources. The lack of expansion and the neglect of mulberry plantation has been the major reason for a significant decline in the production of Philippine native Golden silk. The majority of silk used in the Philippines is imported from either China or other nearby countries.
The rainy season is the ideal duration for the production of Golden silk. As the name suggests, golden silk is known for its lustrous natural golden colour, durability and strength. The process of silk development begins with the rearing of silkworms that takes one month to grow. The spinning of the cocoon takes place for 3 days and once done, they are then placed in hot water, this kills the larvae and advances to the next stage of production.
The raw outer silk (uneven texture, used for the manufacturing of clothes, furnishings, and accessories) and the fine inner silk (fine texture) are the two layers of the cocoon. No dying will be entertained to bring out the natural golden yellow colour of the thread.
The process of dying the threads is carried out through ย a number of techniques and then these are set through various designs. Most of the time the dyes are derived from nature, plant extracts mainly bark and the leaves.
These days, the technique of resisting dyeing of the silk thread is determined through a predetermined pattern that is prior to weaving. In some of the other techniques of resist dyeing, the resist is applied to the woven cloth and for others, it is applied to the threads before they are woven into cloth.
There are specific places where the ties are applied and this way the dye will not colour that portion of the thread. When the correct time of dyeing will approach, the thread spools are placed in clay pots full of natural dye and water. Red, red over-dyed with indigo to give purple, indigo, maroon, yellow, and yellow over-dyed with indigo to give green and blue are a few of the traditional colours used by the silk weavers. In addition to these, the orange colour is created from annatto seeds, grey tones from ebony fruit, yellow from jackfruit, and red colour from the nest of the lac insect are used.
Once the process of dyeing is over, the thread bundles are then hung up to dry. In order to complete the pattern, the resist material is replaced by a new one and the same thread is used to carry out the second phase of dyeing in a different colour. To accomplish the desired pattern, the step is repeated a number of times to give a range of coloured products that the weaver will require to craft out.
Once the cycles of dyeing are finished, the resist bindings will then be removed and the threads will then advance to the process of cloth weaving.
Once the process of resist dyeing is completed, the bundle of dyed silk will then be advanced on a swift to form bobbins. In order to obtain a regular and twisted thread by hand, it is essential to add on a great level of concentration and thereby dexterity. The silk is collected slowly and then gathered into a thicker, larger thread. The bobbins will then be inserted into shuttles and will then be used to weave the final product.
Wooden looms are generally one metre in width and 3 meters in length. The process of weaving is carried out through the hand and after the cotton or silk threads are derived out on the loom. The set-up of the loom may require an entire day. The Philippine output is quite distinctive because of the thread visibility on the front side of the fabric.
The entire process of fabric and cloth preparation requires expertise and dexterity. The entire process takes place to take place between 1 and 3 months, and back to depending on the complexity of the design.
If you are interested in pure silk then we at inabel shop will help you get the most authentic, attractive, and affordable quality silk accessories and clothing.
