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The designs
Picture
Before weaving a carpet, the weavers will first have a colored
drawing of it, which will guide them in both designs and colors.
The picture is drawn on squared paper and usually by famous
artists and designers. The weaver must follow every intricate
detail.
Tools
Tools which are used to produce handmade carpets are not
completely the same in the various carpet producing areas. The
most commonly used tools are listed below:
Loom
A loom is a wooden frame which holds the carpet while it is
being woven. There are two major kinds. One is the vertical loom
and the other is the horizontal loom.
A vertical loom consists of four bars. Two are horizontal - one
at the top and one at the bottom. The other two go vertically
from side to side so that it looks like a standing frame. The
warp yarns are fixed between the top and bottom bars. A
horizontal loom is simpler in structure. It is framed by four
bars, looking like a quadrangle lying on the ground. The length
of a carpet is determined by the distance between the top and
bottom bars and the width by the two side bars and carpets woven
on it are general smaller. Like on a vertical loom, the warp
yarns are fixed between the top and bottom bars, too.
Comb
After the completion of a row of knots and one or several weft
yarns, a special comb is used to press the weft and knots
tightly together to make the carpet even and durable and to
secure knots in place.
Other commonly used tools are scissors and knives, both used to
cut piles and strands. At times you may see spindles which are
used to spin fibers into strands, playing the same role as a
spinning wheel.
Weave
Carpets are made in two different ways. The knotted weave and
the flat weave.
Knotted weave is the more widely used method. As its
name suggests, in this technique, knots are created. A strand is
tied around two adjoining warp yarns, creating a knot. After a row
of knots is completed, one or several weft yarns are through
the warp yarns. Then a special comb is usewovened to beat the knots
and weft yarns tightly together. The weaving process begins at
the bottom of a loom and as the knots and weft yarns are added,
the carpet moves upward until it is finished. Different weaving
groups use different kinds of knots. Some are symmetric; some
are asymmetric while others are more complex.
To form a symmetric knot, a piece of strand is wrapped over two
adjoining warp yarns and both ends of the strand are then pulled
back together to surface between the two warp yarns, forming a
cut. To form an asymmetric knot, a piece of strand is wrapped
around one warp yarn and then passed under its adjoining warp
yarn. The two ends are brought to surface separately, creating
better-look designs.
Each knot is tied by hand. A carpet may be made up of 25 to over
1,000 knots per square inch (about 4 to 155 knots per square
cm). A skillful weaver is able to tie a knot in about ten
seconds, meaning 360 knots per hour. That means it would take a
skillful weaver 6,480 hours to weave a 9X12-foot (2.7X3.7-meter)
carpet with a density of 150 knots per square inch (23 knots per
square cm). If we divide this number by 8 hours it would take
one weaver 810 days to weave a carpet of this size. A carpet as
large as a 9X12-foot is usually woven by two or three weavers,
so the above time can be reduced by half or third.
Flat weave is a weaving without the use of knots. The warp
yarns are used as by warp and weft yarns and the other is the
"pile" which forms the designs and patterns and in foundation
and the weft yarns are used as both part of foundation and in
creating the designs and patterns as they are woven through the
warp yarns. This form weaving way is seldom used and is more
often found in countries like Mexico.
Weaving Handmade Carpets Step by Step
As you are aware, a carpet is consists of two parts: one is
foundation, which is formed effect is the 'working surface' of
the completed carpet. The pile is the upright end of strands,
formed by knots, that may be cut or looped.
Various fibers are used as foundation materials for different
carpets, such as cotton, wool or silk. Cotton and wool are spun
into yarns on spinning wheels or modern machines. Processing
silk is a little more complex. The silkworm forms the raw silk
as it forms its cocoon. While the insect is still in the pupae
stage the cocoon has to be plunged into boiling water to release
the fibre. Workers plunge their hands into the hot water and
pluck fibers from seven or eight cocoons and feed them onto a
reeling machine to form a piece of single thread. Alternatively,
the fibres can be spun by hand to make the silk threads.
These fibers must be carefully selected, classified, combed and
all impurities removed before they are spun into thread. The
threads used for the warp and the weft are used undyed but those
which will form the pile are dyed to match the colours required
in the design of the carpet. These colours as well as the design
for the carpet will have been drawn by the designer and produced
as a colour picture for the weaver to follow. Great care is
taken to ensure that the threads match the precise colours
stipulated by the designer and that the final carpet is a true
representation of his or her artwork.
After all these preparations, the process of weaving begins.
First, the warp yarns are fixed on the loom and starting from
the bottom, the weaving gets under way. The weaver takes a piece
of carefully selected fiber, such as wool or silk to form a knot
on two warps corresponding with the designs and colors in the
picture. The surplus fiber is cut off with a knife. After a row
of knotting is completed, the weaver passes one or several weft
yarns in between the front and back warps. Then he will use a
special comb to beat forcefully on the row of knots and weft, in
order to keep them tight and make the carpet even. As the work
progresses he uses a knife or a pair of scissors to shear away
unwanted fibers. These processes continue untill the carpet is
completed. Finally, the carpet is bathed in a special solution.
After being dried, the carpet will appear elegant, splendid, and
full of luster. A pure silk carpet has properties which act as
sound insulation and has the advantage of being fire resistant. |
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