ClothRoads Scarf of the Month: Ecuadorian Ikat Shawls

When you’re in the homeland of the traditional Ecuadorian ikat shawl, known as the macana, you must search it out–which is what I did on a recent trip. It quickly became my pick for the ClothRoads scarf of the month (I figured you wouldn’t mind that it’s a shawl). This fine cotton beauty is handwoven using natural dyes in the artisanal workshop of José Jiménez.

This Ecuadorian Ikat Shawl, called the macana, is hand woven on a backstrap loom. The pattern is created using a tie-and-dye resist method and natural dyes.

José’s home and workshop sit off a back road that connects to the main highway leading to the town of Gualaceo, 35 km east of Cuenca in Ecuador. It is here that he and his family (his wife Ulloa and their four children) are dedicated to weaving ikat, a tie-and-dye resist process of a highly intricate and complicated hand weaving technique practiced in a number of cultures around the world. But in Ecuador, particularly in the Cuenca region, José and his family are just a few remaining weavers still practicing this art.

Jose´’s workshop is an inspiring “museum” of artifacts.

The road sign off the highway noting an artisan area.

The Traditional “Macana” Ikat Shawl
Sr. Jiménez is a master weaver of “macana” (or makana), the traditional ikat cotton shawl with a knotted fringe. For centuries, the macana, was a key element of traditional clothing along with the Panama hat, an embroidered, pleated blouse, and two skirts, one an undergarment whose lower embroidered edge peeked out from underneath the outer, pleated skirt. While the macana is no longer considered fashionable, José and his work is sought out and aided by government tourism efforts to keeping this art form alive.

Preparing the Warp
The fine tightly-plied cotton is measured on a fixed warping frame which determines the final length of the shawl; this frame makes a shawl about 72” long including the fringe. The number of threads wound is determined by how fine the cotton is and how wide the piece is. These shawls are warp-faced (none of the cotton weft is visible) so the warp sett can be 80 to 100 ends in an inch.

Jose´winds a cotton warp to make his ikat shawls.

Each section of the cotton warp is wrapped with a fiber to resist the dye.

These warps are wrapped using a synthetic resist tape.

Once the warp is wound, the pattern for the design is lightly drawn onto the threads. Next comes the wrapping of sections using the pliable leaves from the fique plant, also known regionally as penca. The wrapping acts as a resist, so wherever the wrapping is, the dye can’t penetrate that section, leaving the area its undyed color. Wrapping the warp can take a few days or a few months depending on the fineness of the weave and complexity of the pattern.

Natural Dyes
The next step is the dyeing process. José uses only natural dyes which are available nearby. Walnut gives shades of brown. Indigo for many blues. Lichens for greens. Cochineal for reds and oranges. And minerals from rocks producing greys.

Minerals from this local rock are used to produce a natural dye that colors the cotton grey.

Detail of ikat pattern, naturally dyed, used in the shawl.

This particular pattern used in the ikat striped shawl was created using both a white as well as a naturally-dyed brown warp.

Weaving Ikat
Once the warping and dyeing process is completed, in some ways, the weaving is the easiest step. Care must be taken that the warp-dyed pattern doesn’t shift on the loom, thereby throwing the pattern out of sequence. But since the weaving is all done on a backstrap loom, once the warp is taut around the frame and the body of the weaver, the pattern is secured and weaving can begin. The woven structure is a warp-faced plain weave so the weaving itself can go pretty quickly.

Jose´ hand weaves an ikat shawl on a backstrap loom.

The Shawl
After the hand woven shawl is completed, it is removed from the loom, and ready for the knotted meshwork fringe. Depending on the complexity of the fringe’s design, the finishing alone can take months to complete. Both ends are knotted into patterns that are simple, like this one, or with wide bands of knotting forming birds and/or flowers.

You can see on this white and black ikat woven shawl (left), that there is quite a bit of warp ready for the knotting stage to begin.

These ikat shawls are ready for finishing with a traditional knotted fringe.

Ikat weaver Jose´Jimenez poses with me and the ikat “macana” shawl.

José Jiménez is quite the showman and salesman. He took great pleasure in wrapping this exquisite macana around my shoulder and having our photo taken.