HON SHIOZAWA (Textiles)
Along with Shiozawa Tsumugi, Hon Shiozawa is a representative cloth from the Shiozawa area, well known by the name Shiozawa Omeshi. It dates back to the middle of the 18th century and just like the crepe from Echigo, it is a silk crepe with a characteristic crimp that makes use of linen weaving techniques.
Using raw silk, the weft thread is tightly twisted before being woven. Its distinctiveness comes from its crimp that appears when the cloth is washed in hot water. The resulting silk ikat cloth, with patterns of fussy motifs is famous for its quality, elegance and beautiful texture.
Feature
Hon Shiozawa is characterized by weaving using strongly twisted raw silk as the weft threads of the fabric. The woven fabric is then massaged in hot water after it is completed to produce its unique softly ruffled texture. Hon Shiozawa is famous for the smooth, ruffled touch of its fabric and the refined grace created by the juji-kasuri (cross ikat) and kikko-kasuri (turtle shell ikat) techniques.
How to make
Raw silk dyed using the ikat technique is woven into a plain weave pattern. The process is mainly divided into making the design, applying a base dye to the individual threads, ikat dyeing the individual threads again to create the pattern, weaving and finally finishing. The dry, ruffled texture is produced by tightly spinning the weft threads and massaging the fabric in hot water after it is woven.
