HAND-WEAVING

Keeping traditional art forms alive for future generations

This is the brief story of Saye Artisan Kaftans. A truly beautiful collabration between local artisans and Saye Artisan communutiy. Each Kaftan is woven by master craftsmen who work patiently, with the most ethical working conditions.

The whole village works together to create one caftan; this is what makes each of our pieces so special. Above all, we respect people who work with ancient techniques and keep these traditional artforms alive for future generations.

Some villages in Anatolia are still weaving in houses. We traveled from village to village, learned a lot from the weavers, that the women in the villages started to work in the fields or other jobs because their weavings were not attracted and this art was losing its value. It was necessary to start somewhere, and that's what we did.

Steps of Hand-Weaving

Sizing Process of Warp Yarns

The way to make weaving healthy is through sizing. The smallest mistake in this stage can effect the rest of the weaving, so it is a very critical stage. In our village, everyone has their own secret formula to make sizing. Most likely, wheat or corn flour is thrown into the boiling water in the cauldron. Once its boiled, the cauldron is removed from the fire and hot water is poured into the copper basin. Threads in hank form are put into the warm water. The yarns coming out of the boiler are wrapped on the spinning wheel before they dry, and the winding process is done. Then they hang it on their terrace, balcony or garden to dry the yarns. 

Bobbin Winding and Warping

The weaving master, who dries the threads, is now preparing to warp.

With a combination of skillful hands and an analitic thining methodts, warping can be done smoothly.  

One of our most loved artisans; Aunt Hatice has been making warp for 60 years, while she is trying to teach everyone around her.

Dressing and Winding the Warp Yarns

The sized warp threads align and get separated one by one before being placed on the loom. This process, which is made to facilitate smooth weaving, is very important. Aligned and starched threads are carefully wound around a wooden beam and transported to the loom. 

There is only one person left in our village who does this job. Our skillful artisan weaves both her own powers and the powers of everyone in the village.

Attaching Warp Yarns on Loom

The bobbin ends are hung on a hanger called a slug. A warp (hank) is obtained by passing through a comb-shaped balancer so that the yarn ends do not mix. The yarns taken with the help of this warp are passed to the combs as a result of the yarn taking process called shed. These combs are two pieces as a requirement of weaving a plain foot. The yarn ends here are passed to the combs of the loom one by one by hand. Dem and frames are mounted on the bench and the hank is hung on the bench.

Weft yarns winding

Once each warp thread passes through a strength eye, a weft is thrown in accordance with the weave of the fabric to be woven. The warps that should be on this weft are lifted up by these forces. Thus, an opening called the nozzle is formed, through which the shuttle will pass, and is rebuilt for each weft. At least two frames are needed to form the mouthpiece. The weft thread is passed through the shed, which is formed by the separation of the warp into two layers, by means of a shuttle, which is called weft insertion.

Weaving

Since the earliest times of history, this is how yarns have been prepared for weaving in almost all techniques. Quite a few of people struggle for at least a week or two to set up the looms, then the weaving masters begin to transfer the patterns they learned from their ancestors onto the weavings. Maximum one metre of patterned weaving can be woven in one day.  All of the patterns and threads have their own formulas.