There are many specialists in Bali for all different types of fabric from beach wear fabrics to traditional Batik silks  textiles with hand drawn designs.

While Bali’s frequent ceremonies are awash with bright textiles and beautiful dress, the weaving of Bali’s natural-dyed traditional textiles, including red ikat cepuk, black-and-white checked poleng, and silk songket, has been in decline for many decades. Threads of Life works with weavers in Sidemen, Seraya and on Nusa Penida to help revitalize these traditions.

The weavers of Nusa Penida, a small, rocky island off the coast of Bali, specialized in unusual textiles called rangrang. Unlike most weaving techniques, rangrang does not use a single, continuous weft thread. Instead, thick bundles of wefts create interlocking zig-zag or diamond patterns, and small empty spaces are incorporated into the design. This style of weaving is known as slit-tapestry.

The numbers of weavers was dwindling however foreign sponsorship has meant that retraining has begun to teach the technique to local young women, and rangrang has started to re-emerge.

There are ten grades of cloth in the Bajawa region of Flores, ranked by motif size, type, and quality.

Every weaver must ’’graduate’’ from each level before making a higher-grade textile.

Lawo butu belong to the highest grade, and very few weavers are qualified to make them.

Lawo butu skirts are sacred in Ngada culture, and some have been preserved in clan treasuries for over 200 years.

Antique lawo butu are priceless, particularly since new ones are so rare.

If the old clan piece is intact, a female elder might wear it to the dedication of a new clan shrine.

Often the old lawo is in tatters, and the elder simply lays it across the shrine’s main post for the consecration. These old pieces are stylistic touchstones for modern weavers, who can use them to replicate traditional clan motifs.

You can get your specific designs made up as patterns professionally sized, graded and printed,  patterns are multi-sized from XS-XXXL.

A juried member of the Independent Pattern Company Alliance (IPCA), many of our patterns are “Beginner Friendly” and a quick project for experienced sewers.

You will find  unlimited types, styles, colour on offer from natural silks, cottons and linens to man made rayon’s etc.

Some companies will transfer your individual designs and personal art to create high quality and standards of prints.

You can choose the fabric type, style, or colour , natural or man made fabric and some offer the service of hand dyed linen or rayon dyeing many of the processes using natural dyes.