Incredible Ikat from Flores

Soft vintage ikat scarf

A lovely soft scarf which has been made from an old traditional sarong. We bought this piece from a lady with a small stall on the road to N'Gela. She buys up old sarongs from her neighbours, cuts off the worn out parts and hems them into fringed scarves. Beautifully soft texture to make an awesome scarf.

Size: 24 x 29 x 124 cms excluding fringes at both ends

Colours: Black, chestnut brown and beige

Soft ikat scarf from Ende

A lovely wide soft scarf made from an old traditonal sarong with ancient horse designs. I bought this one from a woman selling from her small stall on the streets of Ende's market.

Size: 54 x 140  cms (including short fringes)

Colours: deep rich chestnut brown with cream and terracotta natural dyes

Lawolewok ikat with cowries

A piece bought from the ladies at Lawolewok, a village near Larantuka on the eastern tip of Flores. This narrow piece which would look great hung on the wall is made from hand spun and hand woven cotton, natural dyes and has 7 tiny flowers sewn from 4 cowrie shells each

Size: 13 x 110 cms (excluding the plaited fringes)

Colours: rich aubergine and ivory

Soft vintage ikat scarf

A lovely vintage piece with a delicious soft and heavy drape in shades of deep aubergines. A wide shawl or scarf in thick hand woven cotton.

Size:48 x  25 cms x 1.30 m (including short fringes at either end)

Natural dyed hanging from N'Dona

A beautiful piece bought from the N'Dona women's ikat co-operative a village on the outskirts of Ende. The weavers here use only natural plant dyes for their work. This one uses vegetable indigo, morinda citrifolia root and mangrove bark. It has lovely finished ends with  chain stitching

Size: 25 x 154 cms (excluding fringes)

Colours: indigo blue, white, deep chestnut red and rich deep brown

Vintage ikat with moss green

A lovely old piece salvaged from a traditional woman's sarong bought from a seller in the streets of Ende, the capital of Flores island.

Heavy hand woven cotton

Size:54 x 128 cms  (excluding twisted fringes)

Colours: A very unusual subtle mossy green stripes with brown and cream designs.

Ikat hanging from N'Gela

N'gela is a village on the southern coast of Flores which is incredibly difficult to reach down a long and very degraded road. In the end it was worth the trip! The women here make what I consider to be the best ikat in all of Flores. This beautiful naturally dyed piece could be used as a wall hanging or scarf

Size: 49 x 144 cms excluding fringe

Colours: deep brown, dark indigo and pale brown with lovely long rich brown fringes

Naturally dyed wall hanging from N'Dona

Beautiful fine ikat hanging we bought from a women's weavers co-operative in the village of N'Dona near Ende in Flores. This textile is a lovely example of traditional ikat patterns and wonderful organic natural dyes. Good enough to hang on your wall!

Colours: beautiful, deep indigo blue, and rich chestnut red browns. All yarns are dyed using natural plant dyes (including morinda and indigo)

Size: 36 x 150 cms. (excluding fringes)

Wall hanging from N'Gela

A very intricate ikat hanging typical of N'Gele village where this piece was bought. It has been woven all in one piece and is in new condition. A wonderful textile to display on a textile hanger

A lovely mix of natural dyes to give a whole range of shades from rust through chestnut to deep dark brown and black.

Size: 72 x 155 cms (excluding fringes) 

Moth design sarong from N'Gela

Beautiful traditional ikat sarong woven in three pieces and hand stitched together to make a woman's skirt tube which can be worn in a variety of ways. The heavy cotton gives this sarong a wonderful drape and weight. The two outer panels are identical and the middle one has a design of butterflies or moths

Size: 142 x 160 cms (if opened out)

Colours: Deep natural dyes of mengkudu root (morinda citrifolia), and mangrove bark.

Beautiful sarong from Sikka

A really beautiful tube shaped sarong in very soft heavy cotton. The sarong has hand sewn seams and is made of three  pieces woven on a backstrap loom and then sewn together into a tube.  The two outer pieces are identical with a lovely broad zigzagging panel and the middle panel continues the fine patterned stripes.

This piece comes from the province of Sikka in east Flores. It is an old and worn piece but in good condition. The fabric is soft and the colours very gentle and organic. 

Size: approx 140 x 188 cms (when opened out)

Colours: all natural vegetable dyes in browns, very dark blue and ivory 

Handspun floral sarong

A beautiful tube shaped sarong in thick, soft hand spun and hand-woven cotton. The sarong has hand sewn decorative seams and is made of two identical pieces woven on a backstrap loom and then sewn together. This is the traditional tube shaped garment which can be worn in all sorts of ways.

This piece comes from the traditional village of Lawolewok near Larantuka - in the far eastern tip of Flores island. It is an old and worn but in good condition. The fabric is soft and the colours very gentle and organic. Handspinning cotton yarn has almost disappeared, so pieces like this are becoming harder to find

Size: approx 120 x 170 cms (when opened out)

Colours: all natural vegetable dyes in browns, blue and ivory 

Handspun sarong from East Flores

A beautiful tube shaped Flores sarong in thick, soft hand spun and hand-woven cotton. The sarong has hand sewn decorative seams and is made of two identical pieces woven on a backstrap loom and then sewn together. This is the traditional long tube shaped garment which can be worn in all sorts of ways. 

This piece comes from the traditional village of Lawolewok near Larantuka - in the far eastern tip of Flores island. Woven by an incredibly skilled weaver, this lovely textile incorporates strips of floating weft weaving technique alongside ikat. Hard to tell how old it is, but handspinning cotton yarn has now almost completely died out.

Size: approx 110 x 170 cms (when opened out)

Colours: all natural vegetable dyes in browns, blue and ivory