Weaving Class

While we were in Luang Prabang Kenna and I took a dyeing class at the handicraft store - Ock Pok Tok.  It was a really fun morning as we picked leaves, dug roots, chopped bark and boiled it all together to make the dyes.  

Here I am smashing Tamarind root with a mortar and pestle to make the base for a yellow dye.  After the dye was created we soaked the silk skeins in the liquid for 10 to 20 minutes.




These are the silk skeins colored with all natural dyes.  I was amazed at the richness of the colors. 

In the afternooon we learnt how to weave.  Before we could begin our weaving we had to spin the silk onto the bobbins that would be used for the weaving. Here I am...slowly...spinning the silk. 



Ock Pok Tok employs 20 master weavers to create wall hangings, table cloths and scarves.  The quality of the work is impressive. Master weavers take about 20 years to learn their craft - starting with lessons from their mothers when they are about 8 years old.

We each made a 30 x 40 cm silk placemat.  It took about 2 hours to make one.
Here is Cole getting help from an expert weaver and the translator. 

 

 Kenna quickly got the rhythm of the weaving - slide the shuttle, press the foot pedal, bang the comb, repeat.  Over and over and over!  When we began the pattern the weavers helped us as each row had to lift the threads in a particular pattern.