I think my favorite part of Vientiane was our visit to Houey Hong Vocational Training Center in Vientiane.
http://www.houeyhongvientiane.com
They teach (mostly to women) textile skills including natural dying, traditional weaving and sewing – as well as small business administration skills to enable their students to earn a decent living while keeping traditional arts alive.
They also give tours and provide hands-on classes in weaving and fabric dying. I took the opportunity to dye a silk scarf. You can read about that here.
While I’m very happy with my scarf, the high point was the tour of the weaving area. They do amazing work! And the woman giving the tour was very inspiring.
After this tour, I think I finally understand weft ikat. Here‘s what I learned.
Some of the most amazing work was supplementary weft, a technique used to create a lot of the traditional (and very intricate) patterns. For a bit more on that technique, look here.