Sari-Sarong - 3

 

As to see beautiful sarong-kebaya combinations you will have to travel to Bali. This island so distinctly different from other parts of Indonesia is imbued with Buddhist traditions. I had the chance to attend a royal funeral in Ubud and to witness this important event where a gamelan orchestra played, ladies wore their finest and a sarong seller offered her ware stored in a bundle on her head. 

In Malaysia the sarongs are called songkets.  The main techniques are batik (see also post A New Take on Batik, March 18) and ikat. Ikat is the name of a long process of binding the yarn to resist colour and dying it several times to obtain the pattern. Sarongs are now mainly confined to dancing performances and museums. 

I bought the batik cloth with the blue flowers from Tiga Serangkai Design in Eastern Malaysia and the black and brown one in Malaysian Borneo from Sarawak Design.

In the olden days my red sarong with the golden threads would have been reserved for royalty. I saw similar pieces in the Palace Museum in Kota Bharu.

 The songket merchant, the women in East- Malaysia and on the market in Brunei are clad in long skirts, kaftans and scarfs according to the Islamic requirements. 

At Battambang I was fortunate to stay in La Villa, the charming guest house in an old mansion of a French lady who has been living in Cambodia for a long time. She advised me on the beautiful hand woven silks and I could purchase the green and purple silk scarf to complete my collection of exotic fabrics.