Ojiya Ramie Crepe Although the production of an Ojiya ramie crepe is very complex, its manufacture can be broadly broken down into the dyeing of the warp and weft yarn, weaving and finishing. Using a ramie yarn, this cloth is characterized by its ikat or kasuri patterns expressed in the weft, while the warp is left plane. Having defined the extent of the pattern on a template, it is held against the weft and the yarn is marked with black ink. The dye is appropriately applied by rubbing it into the yarn with a special spatula. With the weft dyed, the warp can now be set up and weaving can begin. The position of the weft threads must be continually monitored as the cloth is woven. When complete, the cloth is immersed in hot water and rubbed to produce its distinctive crepe effect. This page uses QuickTime. To download click on the icon. Stage One Click on the picture for QuickTime Movie Design, Marking Out: Using a sample or an original design, the pattern is worked out on graph paper and a kasuri design is made. Next, this kasuri design is copied onto a board or a thick card by incising several fine lines into the material, to interpret the design in linear form. The design in this form is then copied once again onto a template-- in this case a kind of ruler--of several thin boards bound together. This then makes it possible to mark out which parts of the weft will be colored to produce the kasuri pattern. One 'ruler' represents two shots of the weft in the pattern. This process of making the yarn goes on until all the kasuri pattern is marked out on the weft. Stage Two Preparation of the Yarn: Both warp and weft are individually twisted. After a rice paste has been applied to the background weft yarn it is tightly twisted up to produce the crepe effect. Stage Three Reeling, Stretching: First the thread it reeled. Using a warp mill, the correct number of threads of the right lenght to match the pattern are measured out. Eight to 16 reeled weft threads are laid out, untangled, and then stretched on a frame. After these preparations it is possible to mark out the pattern on the weft to produce the kasuri pattern. Stage Four Marking: The weft is stretched out on a frame. At both ends of the kasuri pattern 'ruler' (template), there is a mark called a mimi or "ear", representing the width of the woven cloth. Using this as a guide, the pattern is marked out on the thread. The part that has been marked is then tightly tied with old pieces of ramie. This provides a kind of 'resist' where there will be no color. Stage Five Dyeing: The dye is then rubbed into the threads using a special spatula following the marks. The thread is then skeins before being rubbed repeatedly in the dye along with the non-kasuri threads forming the background. The color is then fixed by exposing the thread to steam at about 100°C. Stage Six Setting up and Weaving: Following the design carefully, both warp and weft are prepared in different ways. Each thread of the warp is passed through the "eye" of the heddle or soko-me and then together, two threads are passed through the reed. For a standard cloth there are 1200 warp threads. The "resist" ties on the weft are removed and after separating the threads, between eight and 16 are wound onto a bobbin and placed individually on a frame. With the thread in place, weaving can now begin and the pattern appears as the weaver takes care to place the weft correctly following the marks on the cloth called a mimi or "ear". Stage Seven Click on the picture for QuickTime Movie Finishing: The cloth is rubbed by hand in very hot water to bring out the crepe effect. The cloth is spread out on snow and bleached through the action of ozone to expose the beautiful kasuri pattern with its white ground. Finally, the cloth is checked for faults.