India

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(c) Ian Alexander 1996-2005

Double-Ikat 'Patola' weave Sari with Pan Bhat (Pipal leaf) pattern, Patan, Gujarat, India The town of Patan in Gujarat, western India, is one of the last places where the complex, difficult, and expensive technique of making Patola cloth is still practised. The example shown here is from a sari, a wealthy Indian woman's wrap-around skirt/dress. Both warp and weft threads are resist-dyed by ikatting before weaving, which must be extraordinarily precise to ensure that the patterned threads line up exactly. Patola cloth used to be exported to Indonesia for the use of the royal households there.