Indigo Ikat Wrap

This mid-twentieth-century ikat wrap is from Ivory Coast. It is an indigo-dyed ikat, which means that portions of the cream-colored threads were tied and dyed before the piece was woven. This dyeing method is what gives the blue stripes in this design their irregular edges.

This wrap has a strip weave construction, which means that it is made up of several smaller pieces of cloth that were each individually woven on a narrow tape loom and sewn together, selvage to selvage. This type of construction is common throughout the world, because it is an easy way to make a large cloth from a small loom. This ikat wrap is mostly indigo blue and cream colored, but the weaver wrapped peach and green threads around the weft in small areas throughout and a thin pink cotton fabric support was sewn onto the top edge of the textile.