Yodgorlik Silk Factory, Margilan

Margilan has woven silk for centuries, and the blurred, flame-like patterns of Uzbek ikat are recognised far beyond Central Asia. The Yodgorlik factory, founded in 1972 and now privately run, is the easiest place to see the entire chain in one morning, from cocoon to finished cloth. It is a working mill rather than a museum, which is exactly what makes it worth the visit: the women at the reels and looms are doing their day's work, and the cloth they weave is sold by the metre in the shop at the end.

The name means "souvenir" or "keepsake" in Uzbek. Uzbekistan's national tourism site describes it as the only factory in the country where the whole silk cycle is still carried out by hand.

Following the thread

• Reeling. Cocoons are softened in vats of hot water, and the reeler catches the loose ends of several at once, drawing them onto a wooden wheel as a single thread. The smell of the simmering cocoons is the first thing you notice.
• Tying. The threads are laid out as a warp the length of the future cloth, and the pattern is marked and bound off section by section. This resist technique is what Uzbeks call abrband, "tied cloud", and the world calls ikat.
• Dyeing. The bound warps go into the dye vats, lightest colour first; ties are cut, others added, and the process repeats for each colour.
• Weaving. Weavers, most of them women, work the dyed warp on hand looms, a few centimetres an hour for the finest pieces. In another room you may see silk carpets being knotted.

Atlas and adras

Two fabrics dominate. Atlas, or khan-atlas, is pure silk with a glossy satin finish, the classic cloth for women's dresses. Adras has a silk warp and a cotton weft, a ribbed, softer sheen and more strength, and is used for robes, cushions and modern clothing. Asking a weaver the name of a pattern is the quickest way into a conversation.

Visiting

A guided tour with an English-speaking staff member takes about an hour; a modest entrance fee is usually charged. The factory is generally open Monday to Saturday, and reports about Sundays conflict, so confirm before planning a Sunday visit. Photography is normally allowed, but ask before photographing individual weavers. On Thursdays and Sundays, combine it with the Kumtepa Bazaar just outside town, and in the afternoon with the craft workshops of the Said Akhmad Khoja Madrasah.