An investigation of Ikat weaving and warp printing and their application to contemporary design

This work seeks to consider the contribution that Ikat weaving and warp printing could make to contemporary textile design.
To do this the research first considered the historical background to Ikat weaving and warp printing by examining'the visual and structural characteristics involved and the definitions used historically. Then by studying in some detail the methods of manufacture, dyestuffs, and design imagery of warp Ikats from South America and Central Asia, and weft and double Ikats from Indonesia and Japan a particular was made with a detailed study comparison of these Ikat techniques in The first volume of this work concluded with a detailed study of warp, weft and double Ikats in Japan.
From this historic basis and analysis of the various techniques
used experiments were devised to understand more clearly the effect of fibre, structure, colouration, warp design and its positioning on the image produced in the fabric. In investigating this a series of practical experiments was carried out on warp printed wool, cotton and silk fabrics and measurements made of the effects of the variables. These results were used to undertake a second series of
experiments using slub weft yarns, warp printed silk and warp printed cotton fabrics made from a double warp.
The work established from an historical viewpoint that the Ikat
weavers were familiar and well practised within the traditional
design limits of their craft but that these limits were differently
defined for the various types of Ikat produced throughout the world.
From the technological experiments the factors controlling the image, its size, position. and effect were determined so that ultimately exemplar design effects were created which suggested ways in which this technique could be developed in the future.