Weaving Techniques
There are 39 officially recognised ethnic groups in Laos, all with their own textile traditions and in some cases very different textile practices. For example: Hmong weavers use floor standing backstrap looms, and stitch patterns over indigo batik.
At OckPopTok we use the floor loom of the Tai weavers (see diagram). Tai people migrated from Yunnan around 8 A.D. Our weaving equipment is handmade from woods and bamboo, usually made by the weavers’ husbands.
The weaving techniques listed below are the techniques used by Lao-Tai weavers and OckPopTok.
Warp: the yarn stretched lengthwise on the loom to be crossed by the weft.
Weft: the yarn woven into the warp to create the cloth.
Supplementary weft: a decorative technique in which a pattern is introduced using extra yarns. The pattern can be formed using continuous supplementary weft threads or discontinuous, where supplementary threads are used to form individual patterns.
Khit: continious supplementary weft, where sticks are inserted into the warp prior to weaving. The heddle holds these sticks below and above the warp, maintaining the pattern, so that it can be repeat woven, creating a symmetric image. There can be as many as a thousands sticks added.
Chok: discontinious supplementary weft, the weaver adds a number of colours into the warp, thus creating a very complex piece of many colours.
Matmee, Ikat: a process of weaving a predyed pattern into the warp. Firstly the yarns are wrapped around a frame, the pattern is tied in and the yarns removed from the frame for dying. The dyed yarns are spun onto spools and woven into the warp, creating a pattern.