Village women have woven carpets for family use. A daughter had a greater chance of marrying if she was a skilled weaver and would offer carpets as part of her dowry to her future husband. She would take great care in the dyeing and hand-spinning of wool and in the selection of designs and motifs, some of which were related to her daily life and tribal culture. Our group stopped here to see how carpets are produced. This semi-private company receives substantial support from the Turkish government and was established in 1960 Women weaving carpets.
Carpets are different from kilims because they are knotted rather than flat woven.
They can be made from wool and silk. Notice that the weavers use a pattern for the rug design. They must follow every intricate detail, leaving them no room for error. A closer view of a woman's hands at work on a loom which after many months of work will produce a silk carpet. Silk carpets, particularly those from Kayseri in Anatolia have as many as 600,000 knots per square meter.