Weaving colors in Bali

“Borders are drawn by men. Nature doesn’t care”

Nature unite us! Colors unite us! Textiles unite us!

Natural dyes unite us around the world… I’ve come to realize that in almost every corner of the world we can find some natural dye history or fact. And I find that just amazing!

Colors & plants unite us in such a beautiful way!! Our passions converge. And we can all share our paths … no matter how far away we live.

When I was learning about Japanese Sukumo in Japan… I also got the chance to go visit Bali Indonesia for a few days.

I’ve wanted to write about this for a long time. And now is the chance to tell you a little bit more about this experience.

My first stop was at Jasri Bay. While being there I met my brother’s friends, who have been living in Bali for several years, and they took me to an amazing place!

We visited a natural dye & weaving cooperative in Seraya, on east Bali. It is called Karya Sari Warna Alam.

The first thing that amazed me, was the fact that they were using a backstrap loom to weave.

These looms is very similar to the ones used in Mexico. It’s incredible how the techniques are really similar. Even though our countries are really far away from each other.

In Mexico, weavers normally use trees or columns to hang their looms.

But the ones I saw in Bali are a bit different, the difference is that they use a wooden device to hang their looms.

They are involved in all the different processes:

Growing plants, spinning cotton, dyeing yarn & weaving on a backstrap loom.

They grow different plants:

They grow cotton, and then they spin this cotton. In order to make threads.

They also grow Morinda:

They grow indigo: Strobilanthes cusia (indigo type) :

They are also involved in the indigo extraction process. They didn’t explain that much. But I think it’s a similar method to the one they use in Oaxaca Mexico, but a smaller amount.

(**If you want to learn more about the indigo extraction process in Mexico, CLICK HERE to read a post I wrote)