There are 37 steps in the process of creating an ikat textile, Aziz says as he leads our exploration of a silk factory in Margilan, Uzbekistan. We are here with a group of twenty Ibu Fringe Road adventurers, who have traveled beyond the main cities and tourist routes to see firsthand the incredible artistry of the region. Aziz Murtazaev has been an Ibu partner for over 10 years, sourcing beautiful Ikat designs and overseeing the creation of apparel and accessories for our marketplace.

Many hands are involved in the intricate ikat process, each step being overseen by a skilled master before being passed on. It begins with carefully tending the tiny silk worms which are fed mulberry leaves and kept comfortable in perfect climatic conditions—until they wrap their fat, soft bodies in a cocoon of tightly spun silk. The quality of the insects impacts the quality of their silk, so this phase of the process is extremely important.

Many of the steps of the ikat process are illustrated above in order, from silk cocoon to finished textile. 

Entering a small, light-filled room, we nod our heads in greeting with two smiling women seated on an elevated platform. One oversees a large bowl of empty cocoons which she deftly unravels and threads to her partner, who spins the fibers into thicker silk strands. They are wound onto spools, then, in another area, unwound onto a large wooden frame that ensures the thread count. We watch, mesmerized, as Aziz demonstrates—the oversized box spinning around and around as the threads are sorted up and down on a series of pegs. 

The hazy effect of an ikat pattern is the result of the threads being dyed prior to weaving. Artisans stretch the natural silk skeins on a large wooden frame, aligned as they will be drawn through the loom, and paint a series of dashes to indicate where the dye should start and stop—a skill like drawing a map of the night sky by hand. Each skein is then separated and tied off where the dye is not wanted. In the meantime, other artisans prepare the dyes. The prepped thread is dipped over and over, checked, and plunged again into the colorful liquid, a laborious task to attain the specified value and saturation for each design.

From top left, clockwise: Aziz Murtazaev explaining ikat designs; At the home of master weaver in Margilan; Dilshoda weaving on a home loom; Sarah Vizard with a slew of ikat bags; the velvet ikat process; travelers Donna Olson and Stephanie Randall observing the weaving process. 

After unraveling several mysteries of process, we enter a room with at least a dozen looms clacking away, women sending shuttles flying across the warp with adept speed. The blurred patterns feed through the reed, ghostly and semi-transparent on one side, rich and vibrant on the other. One weaver slows her pace to show us the velvet fabric on her loom—inserting thin, metal rods across the warp as she goes, and then carefully slicing along each rod to form the soft, plush pile. Witnessing the finished product after traveling through all the stages of production, our ikat tunics and velvet ikat clutches just gained new status in our wardrobes! 

Our group visits several other workshops where we watch the ikat process in play. The bus pulls up in front of a home where Dilshoda, one of Aziz’s star weavers, lives and works. She and her mother welcome us into the bedroom, where her loom is set against one wall. Sitting on floor mats, we watch as she weaves and Aziz translates. Each experience provides a bit more perspective, a slightly different technique, a better understanding of the deep Uzbek heritage this craft holds. One of our travelers, Sarah Vizard, who with her mother and business partner sells luxury home decor, sums up the experience well. I talk about textiles so much, she says, but actually seeing the process is mind blowing. Just ka-thoom 💥💥!