The intricate patterns of Turkish carpets make them extremely valuable.
Silk carpets made in Turkey are prized the world over. The centuries old history of hand-weaving, rich colors and patterns and the painstaking labor that goes into creating these one-of-a-kind treasures make Turkish carpets some of the most expensive carpets and rugs available. To create a large silk carpet, a weaver might spend six full years tying up to 625 double knots for every square inch. To make a Turkish carpet requires skill, patience and a number of tools for preparing the silk, dying it and weaving the threads into the finished piece.
Instructions
1. Harvest and prepare silkworm cocoons. You will need several thousand cocoons to make enough silk threads to weave a rug. Make sure the silkworms are dead inside by shaking the cocoons. You should hear the worm's hard carcass rattling against the shell. Once you have gathered your cocoons, soak them in hot water to loosen the silk fibers and kill any remaining larvae.
2. Pull the cocoon fibers into silk threads. Use the straw broom to pull the cocoons and separate the fibers into threads. String each thread through a spinning machine, similar to making wool thread. The spinning machine will gather the threads as the cocoons unravel, and eventually become transparent. Wind the silk threads onto spools to prepare them for dying.
3. Dye the silk spools using natural dyes. A key feature of Turkish carpets is that they are all created with natural dyes extracted from flowers, roots and plants. Hang the dyed spools to dry on spindles and make sure the threads are completely dry before attempting to weave your Turkish carpet.
4. Hand-weave the rug using the different threads. Prepare to spend eight to 10 hours a day for the next several years for a medium sized rug. You may opt to sketch out your design in advance, then set up your loom accordingly. Cross two sets of threads over and under one another before tying each individual knot. Remember that you will need to double knot each strand of thread and several hundred of these knots must be tied for every square inch.
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