BY MOHD ZAHID AHMAD ZAKI / NUR HUSNINA RAMLAN
KUCHING: Songket weaving calls for a high level of skill due to intricate methods and use of specialised equipment to produce works of art.
Aimi Rashidah Bohri, a Sarawak National Craft Institute (IKN) student, said in addition, patience is required to produce high-quality weaving materials.
“There are eight processes to be completed throughout the making of a piece of fabric that take several months.
“To begin with, the work will start with the dyeing process that will be used for a desired product,” she told Suara Sarawak during the Festival Gendang Sarawak in conjunction with Citrawarna Keluarga Malaysia here on Friday (Feb 24).
Next, Aimi said comes splitting the yarn to ensure the threads are not tangled.
This is followed by the making of a warp to get the desired length and width of the fabric with a tool called warping frame to ensure the work can be carried out accurately.
She said all the threads are then placed onto the frame or board and then rolled through a winding process.
“Then, we will sley the rolled thread to force the weft into place.
“The weaving work then continues with the sewing of the threads one by one into a fabric,” she said.
As for the next step, the fabric is then stretched out to decorate it with patterns.
Aimi hoped the art of songket weaving will be nurtured among the next generation so that the skills are not forgotten.
“Only a few among the younger generation are interested in songket weaving because they are not exposed to the crafting process and think that the handiwork is difficult.
“Therefore, I hope the younger generation can be exposed to benefits of making songket so that they would continue to be interested in venturing into this field in the future,” she added.
