Pure Silk Ikat Fabric - Hand-Woven Natural Uzbek Ikat Fabric by the Metre (Shoyi 100% Silk Ikat)

Special fabric for your special project.

The Shoyi Silk Uzbek Ikat fabrics are hand-made from 100% natural silk of the finest quality. They are smooth to the touch, light as a feather and shine with a brilliant palette of rich colors. The natural silk is ultra soft and comfy.

Product Details:

• Fabric care instructions: we recommend dry cleaning or cool handwash
• Fabric length: sold by the yard or by the metre
• Fabric width: our Uzbek Ikat fabrics are hand-woven using the traditional narrow hand looms and are comparatively narrow with widths ranging from 36 cm (14") to 64 cm (25") depending on the fabric.
• Fat quarters: for the convenience of our customers, we make fat quarters available. Our fat quarters are 56 cm long (22 inches) and 36 to 46 cm wide (14 to 18 inches).
• Hand-woven: fabrics are hand-loomed in small batches with intervals of about 2.5 yards (2.3 meters), with each interval naturally flowing from one to the next via a connecting pattern that keeps the design continuous.
• Natural and organic: we only use natural dyes and natural organic silk.

About Ikat Fabrics

Hand-loomed and hand-dyed authentic Uzbek Ikat fabric - we are bringing back the original Uzbek Ikats that gained fame during the heyday of the Great Silk Road due to their unique designs, diverse patterns and vibrant colors. Hand-made using the original weaving and dyeing techniques, our fabrics feature the amazing ancient designs of Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva and are made only using 100% natural fibers and dyes.

Magnificent in their beauty, handmade Uzbek Ikat fabrics boast bright and colorful patterns, thoroughly unique designs and smooth textures thanks to their reliance on all-natural, top-quality silks and velvets. The fabrics are a national treasure of the Central Asian region and have been widely recognized all over the world for their remarkable qualities. You will often see Uzbek Ikats at Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, where they are often featured by world-renowned designers in their collections. Vintage Ikat fabrics are also cherished by many prominent museums and private collectors.

The process of hand-dyeing and then hand-weaving the Ikat fabrics is very labor-intensive and follows the most stringent standards of fine craftsmanship. It can take a week of meticulous work to produce just a single piece.

History of Uzbek Ikat Fabrics

Hand weaving has existed in Uzbekistan since the ancient times even before the Great Silk Road first introduced the region's magnificent fabrics to the European, and later, the American continents. These rare fabrics have always been made by hand in very small batches. Passed down from generation to generation, the centuries-old artistic traditions responsible for the unique Ikat techniques and designs live on in modern-day Uzbekistan. Our Uzbek Ikats remain true to their original roots and remain as brilliant and refreshing today as they were centuries ago.

These gorgeous Ikat fabrics are a cultural landmark of Uzbekistan and Central Asia, internationally acclaimed for their infinitely diverse designs. The rich traditional Ikat patterns begin with hand-dyeing the threads. Once placed on the hand loom, the threads gradually form an organized design in the hands of a master artisan inspired by the creative heritage of the ancient Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva. In capable hands, the Ikat designs can take a limitless number of brilliant shapes. The technique empowers a unique diversity of designs featuring energetic combinations of colors, shapes and patterns that can suit any taste and occasion.

Types of Ikat Fabrics

We can broadly group the majority of Uzbek Ikats into five distinct categories, depending on their material composition, textures and uses, with all five available in our store.

The Silk Shoyi Uzbek Ikats are made from pure silk, and are the finest and lightest of their kind. The Adras Ikats come in silk with a small addition of cotton for extra durability, and can also be made from cotton only, depending on the use case. Khan-Atlas Ikat fabrics, meaning Royal Silk Ikats, are the most illustrious of all, boasting amazing and unforgettable designs with a classy luster. The Bakhmal Ikats are a treasure find famous for their absolutely luxurious all-natural and delicately soft silk velvets, and brilliantly sophisticated patterns.