What is a difference between “ikat fabrics” and “ikat print fabrics”?

We often come across fabrics defined as “Ikat print fabrics” which leaves us a bit confused. What in the world is Ikat print? How is it different from Ikat fabric? These are questions we would like to cover in this post and hopefully clarify the difference.

Let’s start with Ikat terminology. Wikipedia defines Ikat as follows:

“ikat is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. In ikat the resist is formed by binding individual yarns or bundles of yarns with a tight wrapping applied in the desired pattern (ikat means “to bind” in the Indonesian language). The yarns are then dyed. The bindings may then be altered to create a new pattern and the yarns dyed again with another colour. This process may be repeated multiple times to produce elaborate, multicolored patterns. When the dyeing is finished all the bindings are removed and the yarns are woven into cloth” 

As you can see the ikat making process is as follows: 1) bind, 2) dye and 3) weave.

There is no mention of “printing” in the Ikat making process. Curious as to why not? Because real Ikat fabrics are a product of a manual labour with very little interference from technology. Printing is not a part of Ikat fabrics making process. That’s if we are talking about genuine ikats. When one talks about “Ikat print” we can assume that these fabrics are ikat patterns PRINTED on already woven modern industrial age fabrics.

Let’s consider one example of ikat print fabric which is a beautiful, very traditional Uzbek ikat pattern:

Ikat print is a product of the industrial machinery age

Ikat printed fabric has its own advantages. One advantage is the industrial width which is suitable for wide curtains, for example. It is also often suitable for heavy use upholstery. Ikat print fabrics are less delicate and have less weaving imperfections which are inherent to handwoven fabrics. As beautiful as this ikat print fabric is, this is not Ikat. This is a fabric with a gorgeous Ikat pattern for whihc inspiration came from real ikat fabrics but lacking the Ikat tradition, it’s history and its luxurious feel.

Here, at UzbekAlive we only sell real Uzbek ikat fabrics. This is why we often refer to them as genuine or authentic ikats.