Ikat is one of the oldest and most technically demanding textile traditions in the world, and it gets its name from the Malay-Indonesian word mengikat, meaning "to tie" or "to bind." Unlike prints, where a pattern is stamped or painted onto finished cloth, ikat patterns are built into the fabric before it is ever woven. Bundles of yarn — sometimes the warp threads, sometimes the weft, and occasionally both — are tightly wrapped and bound section by section, then dyed.