What is a handmade carpet?

A carpet is a type of hand-woven underlay that is made from cotton, wool and silk fibers, which depends on the type of carpet. The difference between the carpet and other hand-woven carpets, including kilims, is the presence of knots and piles in the carpet. Carpets are used to beautify homes and for more comfort.

According to reliable sources, carpet and carpet weaving started in Asia. The oldest carpet in the world, known as Pazyryk carpet, was found by a group of Russian archaeologists led by Professor Rudenko in excavations in the Altai region of Southern Siberia. This carpet has motifs of horse riders and grazing deer, which are similar to the motifs of Persepolis. Most researchers consider this carpet to be handwoven from the Achaemenid period.

What are the famous Iranian carpets?

Kashan rug

The most important characteristic of Kashan carpets is their very delicate texture, and for this reason, Kashan carpet designs have a beautiful appearance. The presence of a dark red background color with a navy border is considered one of the main features of Kashan carpets. In the past, vivid colors with high contrast were used in weaving carpets, but nowadays mostly soft colors are used.

Mashhad carpet

This carpet is about five hundred years old. One of the most important points in Mashhad carpets is their special texture. Although the Persian knot is more common, Mashhad carpet weaving is a combination of Persian and Turkish knots. This texture increases the strength of Mashhad carpets to a great extent.

Kerman rug

Kerman is one of the important carpet-weaving cities of Iran that use the three-weft method in their carpets. The first and third wefts are the same in terms of thickness and are slightly thinner than the warp thread, and the middle weft is very thin. Among the technical features of Kerman carpets, we can mention the lightness of the texture and Persian knot.

Bidjar carpet

Bidjar carpet has a dense and strong texture and has very beautiful and attractive patterns. Bidjar carpets are known as iron carpets and are difficult to fold. The reason for the compression of Bidjar carpet is the wool weft used in it. Unlike cotton, wool is a material that has an elastic state, and to obtain a carpet that is dense, the wool wefts must be beaten strongly, which results in rough and compact carpets.

Tabriz rug

The Tabriz carpet dates back to the Safavid period. Tabriz carpets are finely woven and have various designs. This carpet is usually woven with Turkish knot, the materials and fibers used in the production of Tabriz carpet are of the highest possible quality.

Isfahan rug

Isfahan carpets are mainly tied by Persian knots by weavers; This feature has made Isfahan carpets very soft and thin, which has made Isfahan hand-woven carpets collectible and special. Most of the designs and motifs used in Isfahan use the symbols of Lachak-Toranj and Shah Abbasi. The short height of the pile, the use of wool and silk in the pile, vertical looms, connected selvage are the special characteristics of Isfahan carpet weaving.

Qashqai rug

Qashqai nomads use handspun wool for the warp and weft of Qashqai rugs. Most of the nomads use horizontal carpet looms for carpet weaving. These looms are easily placed inside the tents of the nomads and are suitable for the life of the nomads.

What tools do we need for carpet weaving?

To start carpet weaving, we must prepare the necessary fibers, depending on the type of carpet, these fibers can be wool, cotton or silk. After preparing the fibers, we should prepare the carpet weaving material, for this we need a carpet loom and 4 tools (hook, stik, comb and scissors).

The most widely used fiber in the carpet weaving industry is wool. Wool is produced by spinning sheep’s wool. Woolen threads are the thickest and roughest thread for handwoven carpets. The quality of wool varies in different regions and depends on the breed of sheep, the color of the sheep, the feeding of the sheep.

The silk thread is gained from the cocoons that the silkworm surrounds. The cocoons are woven from the material secreted by the silkworm from its mouth. This material has high resistance. Therefore, the strength of silk threads is higher than many threads. Silk threads are very thin and delicate.

Cotton yarn is used as the weft in most handwoven carpets. Generally, they are white to cream colored in the texture of the carpet. Sometimes, depending on the purpose and taste of the weaver, they dye cotton wefts. Cotton thread does not have the flexibility of wool and is not used as carpet lint. Now we turn to carpet weaving equipment:

Loom:

Each carpet is woven on a loom. Loom is a frame that exists in two types, horizontal and vertical, and is one of the main tools needed for carpet weaving. The horizontal loom is usually placed on the ground and may be harmful for those who have back ache, most nomads use the horizontal loom to weave carpets. But the vertical loom is used standing.

carpet hook:

It is considered a type of weaving knife that has a hook at the end. The size of the hook is about 12 cm, and its material is metal, and its tip is determined according to the carpet’s density. The weaver pulls the warps forward using the tip of the hook and ties the yarn to the warps with a special method. This hook also acts as a knife and cuts the pile to the right size. Weaving carpets with a high density, increasing the speed of weaving, not injuring the fingers, regularity of knots and saving wool consumption are some of the advantages of using this type of device.

Comb

Another name for comb is Daftin and it is considered one of the important tools of carpet weaving. This device is used to beat the weft (thin and thick) after each row of weaving. The material of the comb is metal and consists of two parts, the handle and the shoulder. Its handle may be plastic, wooden or metal. Inaccuracy in hammering the comb will reduce the durability of the warps and even tear them.

scissor

We need scissors to cut the extra piles after one or two rows of carpet weaving. Of course, nowadays this work is done by the machine after the end of the carpet weaving.

Map

The carpet map is actually your guide for carpet weaving. We have two types of maps for weaving. Traditional maps that are drawn by hand, but computer maps are prepared by computer.  A computer map is designed with greater speed and accuracy for carpet weaving, which has had a significant impact on the progress of the carpet weaving. The convenience and accuracy of carpet weaving using a computer map has made most weavers prefer computer maps to traditional maps.

In this article, we tried to talk as much as possible about the important cities and centers of carpet weaving and introduce you to the tools needed to weave handwoven carpets. If you have any questions or doubts, you can contact us through VernaCarpets. we are in contact with many manufacturers and has thus provided a safe platform for interested customers to buy. There is a wide variety of hand-woven carpets in this collection, which are in different categories, including new and old carpets, antique carpets, nomadic and urban carpets and customers can choose their desired carpet according to their taste and interests, or customers can tell us about the design and style, and we will find the design they want. we also provide a situation where customers can easily order their favorite carpet.