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You are here: Home / Travels / Thailand / Akha weaving

Akha weaving

When I was visiting northern Thailand, I wanted to learn how to spin using an Akha spindle, which of course meant finding someone from the Akha hilltribe to teach me.  I asked around a bit, and finally wangled an opportunity to spend four days studying spinning and weaving with Ahta, my guide’s mother-in-law.

It was one of the best experiences of my entire trip.  While I wasn’t a weaver at the time, I took copious photos of the weaving process, in hopes of being able to reproduce it someday.  Now that I am a weaver, I appreciate it all the more.

The Akha loom is really interesting, and worth a closer look – the two final photos in the gallery show the entire loom.

As far as I know, the Akha only weave plainweave, in indigo and white – embellishments are made in embroidery afterwards.

You can read more about my adventures with the Akha in the Thailand section of my travel blog.

Loom Frame
Setting Up the Heddles for Threading
Threading the Heddles
Closeup of Threading the Heddles
Threaded Heddles
Setting Up the Reed for Sleying
Beginning the Sleying
Sleying
Sleying Reed, Other Side
Sleying Reed Help
Putting the Correct Thread Over the Threading
Setting Up the Loom
Tying Onto Front Beam
Tying Onto the Back Beam
Untangling the Warp
Untangling More Warp
Closeup of Warp Untangling
Winding Bobbins
Weaving the Stick Header
Shuttle
Throwing the Shuttle
Weaving
More Weaving
Yet More Weaving
Beating the Pick
Loom Treadles and General Setup
The Woven Web
Cloth Beam
Threading Cloth Through the Cloth Beam
Rolling Cloth Onto the Cloth Beam
Brake for the Loom
Closeup of Brake
Advancing the Warp
A Repair Thread
Tien Weaving
Tien as Akha
Tien as Akha, Photo 2
Meeting of Cultures
Japanese Tourists
A Full View of the Loom
Second View of Loom
[Show picture list]

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