Ikat vs Shibori
絣 / 絞り染め
Both sit in Textile Traditions, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. Both are read here as technique. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Ikat
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A technique in which the threads are bound and dyed before weaving, calculated so that the pattern appears only once the cloth is woven. A slight shift of the threads blurs the outline, and that wavering is the fingerprint of ikat. Design and chance live in the same process.
Shibori
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A technique in which cloth is stitched, bound or clamped between boards before dyeing, so that only the parts under pressure stay white. The result is left to the strength of the craftsman's hands and the movement of the cloth, and no two pieces come out alike even from the same pattern.
| Ikat | Shibori | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | ancient– | 8th century– |
| Family | Textile Traditions | Textile Traditions |
| Kind | Technique | Technique |
| Cues | Pattern edges where the outline bleeds / Warp and weft dyed separately / Calculated placement of color / Wavering caused by shifts in the weave | The bled white left by binding / Regular grain from stitch resist / Geometric ground patterns from board clamping / A texture that keeps the relief of the cloth |
| Best used for | Making the outline of a pattern deliberately indistinct · Making the weaving process itself a condition of the design | Making a surface that differs piece by piece from the same pattern · Using a texture that records the pressure of the hand on purpose |
| Type | Use simple, large letterforms that hold up against the bleed. | Choose heavier letterforms that survive the unevenness of handwork. |
| Composition | Derive the repeat unit backwards from the width of the cloth. | Mix intended irregularity into a regular repeat. |
| Material | Dye at the thread stage and weave without correcting the shift. | Resist the dye by binding and pressure, and allow the dye to bleed. |
| Caution | Imitating the bleed in print will not produce the history of the thread. The order of the process is the meaning of the pattern. | Reproducing the pattern in print makes it another thing entirely. The bleed and the unevenness are the record of the technique. |