Weaving the kabakil

Binding the threads and dyeing them forms the major part of the work on a man’s hip wrapper (hinggi) in Sumba. In some cases the warp ends are left loose, in others they are formed into a fringe and sometimes both a kabakil (decorative end band) and a fringe are created. The kabakil is created by using the warps at the ends of the hinggi as wefts, which are slotted through a new set of long thin warps, laid horizontally over the textile. After all of the previous warps have been woven in, the fringe is fo