Kain Songket / Songket Fabric

Songket is a fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. The metallic threads stand out against the background cloth to create a shimmering effect. In the weaving process the metallic threads are inserted in between the silk or cotton weft (latitudinal) threads.

The term songket comes from the Malay / Indonesian word "sungkit", which means "to hook". It has something to do with the method of songket making which is to hook and pick a group of threads, and then slip the gold threads in it. Some says that the word songket was derived from "songka", a Palembang cap in which gold threads was first woven. The word "menyongket" means "to embroider with gold or silver threads". Songket is a luxury product traditionally worn during ceremonial occasions as sarong, shoulder cloths or head ties. Tanjak or songket headdresses were worn at the courts of the Malay Sultanates. Traditionally Muslim women and adolescent girls wove songket. However, some boys and men are also weaving today.

Pictures below show the songket fabrics which has been sewn or stitched to make it into sarong from my collection.

Picture 1
Length: 134cm, Width: 75cm

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4
Length: 184cm, Width: 102cm

Picture 5

Also see the "Kain Limar / Limar Fabric".