We are no strangers to Ikat here, and this piece was from my maker in India who has often small remnants in his store room. This fabric is a linen cotton blend giving the fabric a little more structure than a straight cotton, and it begged to be made into this one size top along with the batik styles.
About our Ikat:
Pronouned ee-kat it means to tie or bind yarn. GOTS certified organic cotton yarn and linen is stretched out and the design is carefully drawn across the yarn by our artisan partners in Telangana, India. Then the artisan binds the individual yarns (often with discarded inner tyre tubes) to follow the design. The yarn lengths are immersed into our Oeko Tek certified dye bath where the bound sections don’t absorb the dyes, and the process continues with new tying in a different section depending on how many colours the design has.
Once the dying phase is complete the dyed yarns are then carefully placed onto a handloom where the weaving stage begins.
The weaving co-operative we work with has 11 weaving couples + other women working on tyeing the warp to weaving, re filling the weft yarn and shuttles.
All weaving is done in the homes of the co-operative couples as such no electricity is available. Purely made by hand and human skill and energy.
I wanted to create a top that was an easy fit and a free size as I could only make one top per piece. This approach (hopefully) allows each piece to fit a broader range of sizes. Working within the bounds of the size and type of fabric is what I love most.
Styling note:
- Can be worn as a top with front ties.
- Or keep untied for an over shirt
- Cuff can be folded up to shorten length and reveal batik underside.
Measurements - These are fabric measurements
- HSP (High Shoulder Point) to hemline - 45cm
- Neck to cuff hem - 73cm
- Width from side seam to side seam - 75cm
Carlie is 180cm tall and usually a size 10 or Medium size.
