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Raw silk thread must be wound, plied into small skeins, degummed and bleached. The prepared thread is stretched onto frames to be measured for warp and weft.
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Following memorized patterns or graphs, small areas are measured and tied off. The tied areas will resist the dye and create the basis of the woven design.
Each color in the design requires measuring, tying, dyeing and degumming,
repeated as many as five times for a pattern.
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Preparing dyed weft threads
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After dyeing is complete, the threads are wound on bobbins in a careful sequence to maintain the design correctly while weaving.
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Much of Cambodia's cultural traditions were lost during the Pol Pot era.
Today, training programs throughout Cambodia are teaching new skills while reviving long lost fiber techniques.
Silk Ikat
Ikat, from Indonesian "mengikat," to dye, is a resist dye technique of many complicated steps. Complex patterns are dyed onto each thread rather than weaving together separate colors for a pattern.
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 A traditional Cambodian silk ikat requires 30 steps from raw thread to finished woven fabric. |
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Each month, 300 men, women, and children, are killed or maimed by landmines in Cambodia.
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation established The Campaign for a Landmine Free World in 1991. Its first rehabilitation center was opened in Phnom Penh.
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