Filipino Cloth and Textile Culture

Itneg Traditional Cotton and Dyeing Culture
[url] http://www.wesaidgotravel.com/abra-philippines-tingguians-bamboos-art-dyeing/ [/url]

Siblings and Itneg elders, the Agaids, are considered fourth generation master dyers and artisans in native arts of dyeing and cotton ( traditionally called 'kapas') in Abra.
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Master weaver Norma Adaig wearing indigo 'frog' design skirt, used by Itnegs during planting season to curry favor from the gods.
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They use 18 natural dyes using narra (for brown), ginger (kunig) and jackfruit for yellow, malatayum for blue/indigo, mahogany for red. Other dyes are derived from guava, makahiya (bain-bain), kapok.

Here they are fermenting malatayum for blue.
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Boiling narra (national tree of the Philippines) for brown
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The 'horse and star' design mentioned in the link, I actually found on a book from Gutenberg on my bookmarks published during early American occupation ("The Tingguian..." by FC Cole).
[url] http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12849/12849-h/12849-h.htm#d0e12021 [/url]
He essentially wrote thoroughly in this book about their traditions.

His quote on their dyeing technique

Itneg horse and star motif
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Other pictures in his book (not some of these the ladies are naked -laugh)

Traditional loom---backstrap loom, used by other 'highlander'/Igorot tribes (unlike the full hard wood loom I showed in the prior post used by Ilocanos---albeit some of them had adopted it later).
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Creating the spool---prior to the spinning wheel (probably introduced in the Spanish times I'm assuming)
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Cotton gin (lilidsan)
[url] [/url]

Pina cloth

One of the fine cloths in the Philippines the other called 'jusi' (the traditional abaca, albeit jusi is a thinner version of the even older dyed abaca textiles woven in many different ways throughout the Philippines). Supposedly traditionally started in Panay, majority of still producers of this cloth in the Philippines are concentrated in the province of Aklan. Pineapple is not native to the islands (New World plant) but the leaves are processed in the same way as the native abaca. The patterns are mixed of European/Spanish lacing designs, and native motifs (found in early drawings and sketches eg Boxer Codex, and many tribal art in existence today). The popular clothing (formal and semi formal) of Christianized Filipinos (barong, baro't saya etc.) is made of this (and jusi).

The popularity of it outside the US in the recent years had been due to the rise of 'organic' preferences in the West. -laugh

Here's an American silent film on it (American's dubbed it "Luzon lingerie")

How the cloth is made...traditionally very simple and rudimentary. Women sheer the leaves of pineapple plant using broken China, wash, dry, link and spin it to yarn.

Traditional hardwood foot loom. Majority of the weaving are done by the women, but in some places men today also weave. IDK if that's traditional (as there are cultures in the Philippines that allow men to weave, albeit few) or consequences of modern times (employment availability). There are also the more 'ancient' backstrap loom although they are less popular.
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T'nalak: T'boli weave (abaca).

Lang Dulay, National Living Treasure master dreamweaver (from tradition that supposedly patterns cannot be weaved until they were seen in their dreams prior).

Weaving T'nalak (from crafting fibers, dyeing and weaving into cloth + traditional beliefs about weaving and patterning).

Traditional clothing during the T'nalak Festival.

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Blog on the process of making t'nalak
[url] http://www.lantaw.com/2012/06/lake-sebu-tnalak-weaving.html [/url]

K'na: The Dreamweaver (2014 independent movie on their lifestyle)

Malong with okir design.

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The malong is a traditional "tube skirt" made of handwoven or machine-made multi-colored cotton cloth, bearing a variety of geometric or okir designs. The malong is akin to the sarong worn by peoples in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The malong is traditionally used as a garment by numerous tribes in the Southern Philippines and the Sulu Archipelago.

The malong can function as a skirt for both men and women, a turban, a dress, a blanket, a sunshade, a bedsheet, a "dressing room", a hammock, a prayer mat, and other purposes. A newborn is wrapped in a malong, and as he grows this piece of cloth becomes a part of his daily life. When he dies, he is once again wrapped in a malong. Among traditional tribal peoples, the malong is used in everyday life. Even in areas where people wear Western-style clothing during the day, the malong is commonly used as sleepwear.The malong is also used in very big festivals, they wear this to show respect.

Okir or okkil is the term for geometric and flowing designs (often based on an elaborate leaf and vine pattern) and folk motifs that can be usually found in Maranao and Muslim-influenced artwork, especially in the southern Philippines, and in some parts of Southeast Asia. Okir a dato refers to the ornamental design for men and okir a bay to that for women.

A variety of way to wear the malong as depicted in the dance malong malong:
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General wear:
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Multi-purpose
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