The process of hand weaving October 27 2015

There is something both physically and emotionally beautiful about hand woven fabrics. The seven families who produce all of our Turkish towels are reviving centuries old techniques and keeping them alive. By making and selling these artisan textiles, we are helping to create a sustainable life for these families in a remote part of Turkey as well as keeping these traditions alive.

The basic approach for all weaving is the same. The strong thread that runs length ways on the loom is called the warp. We only use organic cotton. The warp is attached to the loom before you start to weave. in the picture below, you can see that this pattern has many colors that make up the warp. Sometimes, the warp may consist of one color and the design is purely produced by the weft. The weft is the thread that that goes from left to right on a bobbin. In the picture below, you can see that the weft is a green color. The bobbin moves rapidly from side to side and is propelled as a result of the weaver stepping on a pedal. (Something similar to an old manual sewing machine) In between each shuttle of the bobbin each alternate warp thread moves either up or down. It is difficult to remember which thread is the warp and which is the weft, so my trick is that weft rhymes with left so the weft is the one that goes left/right.

p.s. I love this photo because we have this pestemal in the shop and have just taken two of them and had them made into a bathrobe.