Textiles in Kasongan Village

After we left the first pottery place in Kasongan village we went up an alley and came in the back door of a combination fabric and hat making operation.

It was an odd place. The fabric was in an area that looked like a three sided car port with one side open not to the street but to the porch of the house it was attached to. Inside this area a couple of women worked industriously at decorating fabric.

I’m a big fan of batik. I even brought a little extra money with me with the intention of picking some up along the way. Although batik might have been part of the process, that wasn’t what these women were about.

They were gluing glitter to fabric. Lots of glitter. Lots and lots of glitter.

The Girl has taken a few art classes in high school. Quoting her teacher, she once said that glitter is the herpes of the art world and should be avoided at all costs.

So of course I bought some. I couldn’t help myself. It’s really pretty glitter!

The two women sat side by side working on the same panel. They nudged each other and chattered about us as we floated around going “Ooooh and ahhh” at everything. Alright, I’ll admit I’m probably the only one actually going “oooh and ahhh.” Anyway, they got along and worked well together.

The woman at the top sat in the junction between the car port and the porch in more than one way. She cuts the fabric into strips used by the men to make the hats (at the bottom of this post).

Then our tour guide gave us instructions on how to build our own authentic, local style of men’s hat.

To me it just looked like a glorified do rag. Apparently this was a step up from my coolie hat. The hats the men made were on the other end of the spectrum and are worn on special occasions or a show of respect.

This man was considered the best worker. He produced better quality hats at a faster rate.

They have a kind of ball built into the back. It isn’t what you might think. The balls are to imitate the buns that men of wealth used to wear. Only wealthy men grew their hair long. Field hands didn’t have long hair in the first place. The wealthy tied it up for ceremonies.