This is the second part of the series, following “Karamushi Weaving ① | From Karamushi (Ramie) to a Small Cloth”. Here I introduce the process behind the small vase mat shown previously, about 20 × 40 cm: growing karamushi, extracting its fiber, and weaving it into cloth.
▼ First, once again, this is karamushi (ramie).
▼ I had actually been growing it since the previous year. The photo below shows the karamushi around the time it was planted out.
■ Karamushi Weaving | Extracting Fiber from the Plant
▼ In summer, I harvested the fully grown karamushi. At that time, I soaked the stems in water overnight before peeling off the bark. I then removed the outer layer to obtain the fiber.
▼ The photo below shows the extracted fibers after drying.
■ Karamushi Weaving | Plain Weave on a Tabletop Loom
▼ I wove these fibers on a tabletop loom using a plain weave.
※ In the traditional production of jōfu, a finely made ramie textile, aoso (青苧)—the bast fiber refined from karamushi—is hand-spliced into ramie yarn and used as the basic material. The traditional techniques are also documented by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs in “Karamushi (Ramie) Production and Fiber Scraping”. That level of work is exactly what one would expect from jōfu. Since this piece was an experiment, I used cotton yarn for the warp.
▼ Finished! This is the karamushi-woven vase mat.
Because this was an experimental piece, I made only a small vase mat. Next time, I think I would like to try making a slightly stylish bag.
That said, I had not grown very much karamushi that year, so the next stage had to wait until the following year. So, right away, I expanded the area devoted to growing karamushi!
