E-KASURI OR PICTURE KASURI

This Japanese technique for weaving weft kasuri (ikat) enables very complex designs to be dyed and woven into the warp . The principle is a simple one that at first glance my seem complicated. It involves a seed thread (tane ito) or mother thread. This seed thread will be the one that will enable the weft to be woven into a design.

To make the seed thread, weave enough of the chosen weft thread to make one repeat of the pattern.

Draw a line down both selvedges in marker or ink. Then unweave the thread and roll it into a ball.

This is the drawing for e-kasuri.

Slip and tape the drawing inside a frame that has nails on either side. With the thread that has been unwoven from the loom go back and forth around the nails. Leave a few inches of thread at the beginning and end for adjusting the threads.

Trace the design onto the threads with a black marker or ink. Undo the threads from the frame by rolling it into a ball. This is the seed thread.

Examples of marked seed threads prior to weaving.

A stencil can also be used to mark the weft repeat.

The seed thread is stretched out or put on a warping reel. Then the weft thread is wound or placed alongside the seed thread, one thread for every repeat of the pattern. The resist ties will be wherever a dot or dash is marked on the weft thread.

Tying the resist threads where the

marks are.

*For tying instructions see the blog entry for Saturday, February 02, 2008

The weft marked and tied ready to be dyed. After the thread is dyed the resists are untied, put on bobbins and ready to be woven.

This is the final result. The warp has been prepared with both blue and white warp threads. The weft pattern is broken in the center with plain white threads.

WARP SHIFTING DEVICES FOR KASURI

Indigo dyed Ikat from Equador

Mayan rebozo (shawl)

WOODEN SHIFTING DEVICE

This is a simple way a shifting ladder can be constructed. When warping the loom, the ladder can be mounted on the front or back of the loom depending on how the loom is dressed.

TWO SIMPLE SHIFT METHODS FOR KASURI

Tied warp ready to be dyed.
When untied the warp yarn will have bands of color, that when put on the loom and shifted will result in complicated patterns.

NISHIJIN HIKIZURASHI KASURI

Nishijin hikizurashi kasuri is woven in the weaving district of Kyoto. The dyed warp is threaded through an unusual apparatus similar to a ladder (hashigo) that is mounted on the loom.

The warp is shifted by threading through the various levels of the ladder thus creating different patterns.





































The yarn doesn't have
to be elaborately
tied or dyed.





The shifting can result in many different patterns.

KASURI OR IKAT INSTRUCTIONS: Various methods of tying warp

In the next blogs I will be showing information and instructions about the various forms of dyeing and shifting warp for kasuri / ikat.











Tying instructions













Tied yarn ready for dyeing.






Yarn that has been tied










Yarn that has been dyed and untied.








Possible patterns for shifting.

KASURI

Kasuri (絣) is a Japanese textile technique that means splashed pattern. This technique can be done in the warp or weft or both. It is a style of plain weaving that uses a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye. The threads are covered with paper, or plastic or any other material that will resist the dye. Thus the warp or weft threads are dyed in patterns or designs before the threads are woven. The completely white areas, the seismic, fuzzy edges of the design and the irregularities in the dyeing of the threads can identify this technique. Indigo dye is used for kasuri as well as other colors of dye. This weaving and dye technique is very labor intensive.

This type of fabric came from India to Indonesia, then by way of Okinawa and China to Japan. In India and Indonesia it is known as Ikat. Ikat means "to tie" or "to bind" in the Malay language and is the common term that identifies this technique.

There are four kinds of kasuri. Warp kasuri (tategasuri), weft kasuri, (yokogasuri), double kasuri (tateyokogasuri) where both the warp and the weft are tie-dyed before weaving and meet in precise patterns, and egasuri or picture kasuri where a picture such as a carp, flowers, fans, temples, tortoises or other auspicious images are tied and dyed into the warp.

Ikats have been woven in cultures all over the world. In Central and South America, the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan, South-East Asian countries of India, Indonesian islands of Bali and Kalimantan.

Like any craft or art form, ikats vary widely from country to country and region to region. Designs may have symbolic of ritual meaning or have been developed for export trade.

These ukiyoe prints show kasuri fabrics. They are all by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?-1806)
He is considered one of the greatest Ukiyo-e artists, being specially known by his portraits of beautiful women, or bijin-ga.

DYEING SILK YARN WITH INDIGO

Dyeing silk yarn with indigo at the Yamazaki Seiju studio in Gunma prefecture. The dyer is his son, Yamazaki Kazuki. The indigo is sukumo a natural indigo. The additives are fusuma (cooked wheat bran or mash). This starch is used to feed the bacteria and Ca(OH)2, (sekkai) the liquid that has been leached from wood ashes.

ITAJIME: Elaine Blythe

Fabrics dyed in indigo by Elaine Blythe. These fabrics were first dyed and printed with various textile techniques, then over dyed with indigo. The indigo dye united the design and unifies the original colors .

CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE ITAJIME

These kimono have linings made with itajime decorated fabrics.

Girl's red kimono decorated with itajime flowers.

This itajime design called sekka has a radiating
leaf pattern similar to a Japanese maple or an asa
(hemp) leaf.