Mutta Thailand
started from our love of the traditional Thai fabrics – the artfully woven fabrics has a long history that are amazingly rich in culture, with each province and region in Thailand having unique techniques and designs. Each piece is hand woven and one of a kind, with craftsmanship passing down from generation to generation. With each era, new trends and colors emerge and integrated back into the art, making it a very popular choice within Thailand and internationally. Mutta Thailand is proud to showcase and offer our best selections of our beloved fabrics that would be perfect for fashion design.
In Thai culture, fabric is considered one of the 4 essentials for humans – along side food, shelter, and medicine.
The weaving of traditional Thai fabrics have been around for hundreds of years, as found in ancient texts and documents dating back to the Sukhothai era. Historical finding throughout the times have also found mentions in different communities such as the Khas, Grasohs, Gralehngs, and Suays in the Ayutthaya and Rattanagosinth eras.
Hand woven fabrics in Thailand have demonstrated and reflected the culture and technological advancement of the time and each of the region. There are 2 ways that the fabrics have been categorized – by material used and the woven technique.
Woven fabric by material:
Cotton – economic crops grown in every region of Thailand, grows well in warm weather, preferring loose sandy soil, ample breeze, and less shade. The cotton fiber is great for moisture wicking and dries quickly, making it a great breathable choice of apparel fabric.
Silk – fibers coming from Thai silk worms, a popular industry in the Northern, North Eastern, and Central regions of Thailand. Silk worms are caterpillars that grow into silk moths and thus go through the same life cycle as other moths and butterflies. The silkworm spins a cocoon of silk threads around itself and turns into a pupa. The pupa changes into a moth, discarding the cocoon, which then gets processed into silk threads, dyed, and woven into textiles. Thai silk has a natural sheen, slick to the touch, and flexible.
Woven fabrics by weaving technique
The different techniques used will yield different and unique designs and styles when woven.
Mudmee – can be cotton or silk or a blend of the two. The threads are tie-dyed with straw, hay, or banana ropes and the threads then must be carefully and consistently arranged. Each piece require the expert craftsmanship and considerable amount of time to carefully create the beautifully unique design.
Jok – is a combination of woven fabric and embroidery where additional threads and colors are introduced into the using sticks, porcupine quills, or fingers to lift and press the reeds on the loom to create the geometric designs.
Khid – uses a special mini hand loom. The warp threads are selectively lifted by special Khid sticks or by hand to allow the shuttle through to create the desired design and pattern.
Praewa – hand woven technique with a combination of Khid and Jok. The distinguishing feature of Praewa is its intricate exquisite design and pattern.
Yokdok – creates the pattern by occasionally sending an extra shuttle or more to achieve a particular design.