The making
of a DOBAG carpet. |
| “Made
entirely from wool, the village carpet begins life on the
rocky hillsides of the Aegean Peninsula where flocks of sheep
roam and graze as they have since prehistoric times, their
tinkling copper neckbells in musical harmony.
Village sheep are one of many
fat-tailed breeds indigenous to Anatolia that thrive in arid
climates. When food is scarce, they survive on the fat stored
in their abnormally large tails.
The animals supply meat and
milk as well as a fine, lustrous fleece – the raw material
for the handspun yarn.”
June Anderson ‘Return
to Tradition.’ |
 |
It takes a whole village to make a carpet and the process
can take many months.
Although weaving is women’s work, the men of the village
play an important role as shepherds, tending their small flocks
each day to find suitable grazing. In winter the shepherd
wears a kepenek, a cape of white felted wool which is windproof,
waterproof and doubles as a sleeping bag at night.
|
 Then
when the time is right in spring and autumn the sheep are shorn
gently by hand and the fleece washed in running water, often
a river or creek. The wool retains lanolin which facilitates
the spinning process. Only the best winter wool is used for
knotting a carpet. It has a long staple and can be heated
to boiling temperatures without matting, making it suitable
for dyeing. It takes the winter wool of about ten sheep to
make one square metre of rug. |
 The
wool is then combed to make it ready for spinning. The older
women do most of the hand spinning using the drop spindle
or wheel.
Drop spinning is one of the oldest forms of hand-spinning
and has survived into the twentieth century because of its
many practical advantages.
It is light and portable, well suited to nomadic life and
easily incorporated into the daily work routine of tribal
and village women.
The drop spindle spins a strong, tight yarn suitable for
warp and weft threads. |
 The
wheel is faster, and because it spins a looser thread which
allows penetration of dyestuff, it is used to spin the yarn
for tying the knots (or pile). |
 As
well as doing much of the hand-spinning of wool, grandmothers
help out with childcare. Different yarns are handspun for
the warp, weft and pile. The wool is then wound into loose
skeins and is ready for the next process of dyeing.
|
 In
some villages the dyeing takes place at home and in other cases
the weavers take their wool to a master dyer in the village. |
 All
of the plant material required for dyeing with the exception
of indigo, which is imported from India, is collected by the
weavers and their families.
Natural dyed wool drying
|
 The
next stage is the setting up of the loom. In cottage industry
such as the DOBAG project the carpets are woven on vertical
looms set up in the weaver's own home. |
 The
warp threads which form the foundation of the carpet are stretched
between the two cross beams and held under tension by the upright
sides of the loom. The pile of the carpet is made by tying knots
around pairs of warps with the two ends facing the weaver. The
two ends are cut with a hand held knife leaving the two tufts
sticking out.
When a line of knots has been tied a weft thread is passed
across and back, over and under alternate warps. The weft
is then packed down with a beating comb so that the knots
are held firmly in place.
This process continues until the carpet is finished. The
weavers know the traditional designs very well and the whole
carpet is woven from memory. This knowledge has passed from
mother to daughter for many generations.
|
 When
the weaving is finished the carpet is cut from the loom and
the warp ends are braided together to prevent them from unravelling. |
 Finally
the new carpet is washed with pure soap and water. |
 The
weavers are very proud of their finished carpet knowing they
have created a practical thing of great beauty that will provide
its new owner with a life time of pleasure. |
 One
of our tour group members meets the
weaver of the rug she bought in one of the DOBAG villages. |
|
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