Weaving Technique Seen to Revive Traditional Design
Dobby Weaving technique can replicate traditional designs in Cordilleran weaving, says an owner of a weaving business in Mt. Province.
During a recent seminar-workshop on dobby weaving by the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) in Sagada, Mt. Province, Ezra Aranduque, owner of Sagada Weaving, saw the potential of dobby weaving in replicating traditional designs like pinilian and birds eye.
These designs, he said, had vanished from hand-woven fabrics produced in the region. These were so intricate that weavers spent more than a month to produce 28 meters of these fabric, he added.
Through dobby weaving, creating and reproducing designs take lesser time. Production of fabric increases from the average of 3 meters to 4 meters a day to 5 meters a day.
A mechanical attachment on a loom, the dobby controls the harnesses, or frames holding the heddles in position, to allow the weaving of geometric designs. The dobby loom can weave geometric designs up to 24 warp patterns, says Jovita A. Hayin, supervising science research specialist at PTRI.
Aranduque is glad that his staff have learned about the dobby loom. He is hopeful to increase production by at least 30 percent by adopting this weaving technique. They are making bags, wallets, purses, place mats, table runners, and skirts and loincloth among traditional Cordilleran clothes. They sell these at select stores in Baguio City, Bontoc, Kalinga, and Apayao.
By Arlene Obmerga