Making our carpets

Our silk thread is 100% natural and comes from silkworms grown locally in Bukhara region. The growers spin the thread, which we purchase in our local bazaar.
The thread is initially white in color. During each of the four seasons we use different plants to create the colors necessary for excellent quality Persian carpets.

Here's a few examples of the plants and fruits that we use:

Winter - walnuts and pomegranate and roots of various plants, preserved cherries, grapes and other summer fruits.
Spring - leaves of walnut trees, almond trees, mulberries.
Summer - onions (which give three colors - yellow, gold and reddish gold), black grapes, black currents, saffron.
Fall - yellow melons, wheat, clover, bayarishnik (please translate), rayan (uzbek)

Ikhtiyor (right) at his shop in Bukhara 

For Mulberries and all fruits: the fruit is laid in tubs in the sun to become sour. The silk thread is boiled in water separate from the mulberries, which are also boiled. After a certain amount of time the mulberries and silk are combined and boiled together for about half an hour. At this point the silk will sit in the mulberry juice for one week in a cool dark place. After a week the threat is removed from the mulberry juice, washed and dried. It is then ready to be used for carpets.

Roots are first of all softened by beating and ground up into a rough powder. The powder is then placed in water for 24 hours. At that point it is simmered at 70°C for 90 minutes. The mixture is then combined with silk thread and placed in a container to sit for a week in a cool dark place. At the end the silk thread is removed, washed and dried to be used for carpets.

Dyes are used by themselves but also combine them to create a whole range of colors.
All the dyes are 100% natural and do not run when wet. Carpets may even be washed without any loss of quality.

Ikhtiyor at the family home with mulberries before "cooking" 

Our carpets are weaved at 80 knots per square centimeter. Some of our imported carpets from Iran are weaved at an incredible 100 knots per square centimeter. The average weaving time for a 1x1.5m carpet at 80 knots per square centimeter is 6-8 months. The time intensity of the weaving process brings a high value to the carpets.

 

Once we have the pattern and size decided, our family begins weaving. Pictures below is one of the rooms in our house where Ikhtiyor's mother, sister and wife weave. In the picture you can see thread, designs at eye level, the wooden loom and the carpets themselves that are being worked on.

Ikhtiyor's mother, wife and a sister at weaving