Open door at Haebaru Ryukyu Ikat Hall - 2017.11.26

Today, I visited Haebaru Ryukyu Kasuri Kaikan

(in English: Ryukyu Ikat Hall)

as they had an open door event

 where one could admire fine handwoven 'Ryukyu kasuri' ikat patterns. 

 I was shocked to hear that these silken weaves (above) were sold for a much lower price than they should normally due to the fact that they contain some (in my eyes) little mistakes.

 Some of them are transformed in Western clothes or bags.

They are checked severely by specialists and when they are not perfect,

they are sold at lower prices.

However, these handwoven silken weaves

are beautiful and contain very fine and difficult ikat patterns!

Swedish lace weave with polished linen for bobbin lace

About a week ago, I finished my

Swedish lace weave with polished linen yarn for lacemaking.

This yarn is strong and easy to weave!

The patterns for this Swedish lace weave

are based on pages 187 and 188 of 

'Handweaver's pattern book' by Anne Dixon.

test weaving with a green and red cotton weft

yellow cotton weft

Exhibition June 2013

In June 2013, I ended a 5-year basic weaving class

of the part-time art education for adults

offered by KASKA (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp)

with an exhibition

This exhibition was held in a corner of the weaving class

of the textile department of KASKA.

The exhibition shows some representative weaves

I made during these five years.

            

Lampas on a 16-shaft loom

Lampas on an 8-shaft loom

       

Chair covers and a cussion made of  weaving techniques

such as Honeycomb weave and Monnik's belt.

Satin 5 damask

3 sample weaves of dubble weave, honeycomb and  monk's belt

Taquete on a 16-shaft loom

       

Waist bag made of dubble weave
and Okinawan 'hana-ori'.

Sample weave on a 4-shaft loom

Okinawa's Craftsmanship Support Center

In September 2011, I visited Okinawa's Craftsmanship Support Center in Haebaru, where I followed a 6 months-course in 2007-2008.

  

I used the loom at the left.

I was the first foreigner who could register in the center. The reason is that there are some conditions to be fulfilled. One of them is that you have to prove that you live in Okinawa permanently and that you are in a situation that you will use the technique within Okinawa Prefecture afterwards. At that time, all those conditions were fulfilled and I had no purpose yet to return to Belgium. I am still very greatful to the center that they accepted me, because I tried 3 times to register and only the 3rd time I was accepted. The technique I wanted to learn was the typical Okinawan warp ikat without waste of yarn.

This weave was about 11 meters long. 

In the weft, I used banana fibre which I cultivated myself.

These are some of the Okinawan banana fibre plants I started to cultivate in 2003.

The extraction of the fibre is a complicated procedure, which I will explain another time.

Okinawan ikat weaving

During my trip to Okinawa in September 2011, I visited different weaving workshops and weaving centers. The closest center is Haebara, where I like to go, because it is open to visitors. The weavers there mainly weave Ryukyu-gasuri. Near the workshop, there is also a shop where one can buy hand-made weavings and garments. I was lucky, because when I visited the center, there were rests of dyed yarn available. One of the employees recognised me from a picture in a newspaper article dated a few years ago.

flyer promoting 'Ryukyu Kasuri' and 'Haebaru hana-ori'.

'Ryukyu Kasuri' is typical Okinawan ikat.

'Hana' litterally means 'flower' and refers to the cute patterns made of fine weft float weaving.

'Ori' stands for 'weaving (technique)'. 

 

The shop at Haebaru Weaving Center (Okinawa, Japan)

Japanese weaving yarn

During my trip in Okinawa in September 2011, I bought some new yarn to weave in Belgium.

I ordered silk and cotton yarn from mainland Japan.

I will have to clean this yarn first and then dye.

I also bought colourfully dyed cotton 

in Haebaru Weaving Center (Okinawa)