My translator, showing a cocoon and worm breeding.
Thousands of worms were fed with leaves, which when they reach their full size, becomes a cocoon. The cocoon contain silk threads which will be used for weaving.
About 1500 cocoons or 1.5kg of cocoons are needed to make a sarf.
The cocoons are boiled to remove the sticky component of the silk thread that holds them together. When the stickiness is removed, it would then be easy to harvest thread from them.
The thread is carefully handspun from the pot of boiled cocoons.
Natural deyeing ingredients simplified
A combination of specific natural ingredients produces certain shades of colors
Bright orange dye from Annatto Tree
Another technique to create patterns on hemp fabric is using beeswax as resist material to paint on fabric using a bamboo stick.
A master weaver reordering hundreds of threads for the right pattern. It takes three or more weeks for a weaver to prepare a pattern for a specific product--scarf, table cloth, beddings, among others. It is labor intensive!
Bed setup of the Tai Dam curated at the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center. The blanket patterns are still being made at the Ock Pop Tok Center.
The beautiful scene of the Mekong River overlooking the place of the weaving workshop.
