The dyeing, spinning, weaving and wearing of Lao silks

On our way around the cosy streets of Vientiane last Christmas, we stumbled across a huge french colonial mansion which we thought we would have a stickybeak in. We were delighted to find these weavers in the process of planning and making gorgeous silks. These hand-dyed silks are being dried in the hot midday sun in Vientiane, waiting to be spun for weaving. They are stirred in a giant pot with organic natural plant dyes that have been formulated over many generations to perfect the desired colours.

Then silks are the spun by hand using this wheel by a couple of very patient women. This system had remained the same since my grandmother’s day.

As you can see, the weaving process is even more time consuming than the dyeing and spinning processes. The pattern for the silk is carefully planned with vertical strings and the article is painstakingly constructed, line by line. This process takes weeks and months to finish a piece, depending on intricacy of design.

The piece below from our own collection is an exquisite example of the finished piece. Hand-made and constructed in the same fashion, it makes for a special gift or a piece to treasure. Many of these shawls are kept in homes as hangings as well as worn on the body. Although they may be displayed as throws on couches, these prized silks are never laid out as table cloths as they are too precious.