A Small Swath of Zanshi-ori: Patched Cotton and Silk

Zanshi-ori is cloth that is woven from threads either leftover from home production of yarn making, or from broken threads that were purchased from local commercial weavers.  

 

Usually the weft is fed with these random threads while generally the warp is regulated producing an irregular horizontal 'striping'; if home threads are used, knotted slubs can often be seen.

 

This small piece of patched cloth is a lovely example of zanshi-ori.  For the most part the cloth is woven from cotton yarns.  

 

However, look carefully at the attached detail photos to see that the pink weft yarns that shoot across the width of the cloth are not cotton at all, but silk.  They may be dyed in benibana or safflower.

 

This piece of hand woven cloth is rich in texture and color, and is a very fine example of zanshi-ori.