H'Ngach Rahlan at her loom working on a skirt.
After the skirt is finished she works on the
kteh portion, a band at the bottom of the textile which is weft twined off the loom and is characteristic of Jarai skirts.
This close up shows a traditional embellishment using Job's Tears (
Coix lacryma-jobi), a tropical grass grown in Southeast Asia.
Job's Tears were once grown in the rice fields in Vietnam but not commonly found in the U.S.
Her craftsmanship is impeccable. "No mistakes", she says!
On this skirt Ngach uses store bought beads to finish off her
kteh.
Ngach gives a lesson in twining a
kteh to Australian weaver Laverne Waddington.
Ngach and Laverne work together on this child's skirt
kteh .
Ngach's firm control on the tension keeps the design tight. Twining from left to right she pulls down the weft threads with the left hand and with her right hand flips the threads, wound around cement bobbins, around each group of weft threads.
She nimbly handles the bobbins with rhythm and precision. A clacking sound is heard each time she twines her weft threads around the warp fringe.
Details of one of Ngach's shirts.
Another detail.
