All the kilims above are made as part of the DOBAG project in Turkey.

This project started back in 1981 after Dr Harold Boehmer , a German Chemist, decided to do something about the fast disappearing knowledge of making natural dyes.

Not only did the formation of DOBAG rescue the knowledge, it also brought some prosperity to impoverished villagers and empowered women.

DOBAG stands for "Dogal Boya Arastirma ve Gelistirme Projesi" - which in English means "Natural Dye Research and Development Project" The results of Dr Boehmers test on antique and old kilims and carpets held in museums has provided much of the information neccessary to recover lost dyeing skills.

The great thing about natural dyes as opposed to sythetic dyes is that they are naturally in harmony with each other. Look at the wool that the ladies in the picture on the right are holding, and how the basic colours just seem to complement each other. This is why kilims made with natural dyes look better.

Not only that , but the traditional designs were made with these natural colours in mind. When the synthetic dyes first arrived people kept the same patterns but made them in all sorts of disgusting and un-harmonius colours!

Along with the rediscovery of the dyeing techniques has come theconcentration on perfecting the old techniques using the best raw materials. The result is had made kilims and carpets of a higher standard than ever before.

Making a Kilim/Carpet

The entire village has a part to play in each kilim and the whole process can take months, depending on the complexity and size of the design.

The men have to look after their sheep , always looking for fresh grazing land. This is a constant task and in winter this involve sleeping out in the cold with the sheep. To cope with this they make a kepenek, which is a woolen cape that also is useful as a sleeping:

The men get the task of shearing the sheep. The sheep are not harmed by this and will grow a new thick cost of wool.

The sheep can be sheared twice a year, but the winter coat (sheared in the spring) is considered the best quality and is usually reserved for carpet and kilim making.

The characteristics of the winter wool is that it has a long staple and can be boiled without matting. This makes it very suitable for dyeing. You need around ten sheep to produce enough wool for 1 square meter of carpet.

Once the wool is washed in running water, it is then combed by the women to make it suitable for spinning. This is usually done by the older women who still use the drop spindle and the realtively newer wheel. Drop spinning is one of mans oldest technologies. It is still extremely effective and has hardly been improved on. The women spining the wool can judges the thickness of the yarn she is making, and studies have shown that experienced spinners are accurate to within a few microns.

The orther benefit of drop spinning is it's portability , which is perfect for a nomadic lifestyle.

Spinning with a wheel.

Some people dye the wool in their own home and others take it to a master dyer in the village.

Nearly all of the natural materials required to make the dyes are collected locally. For example, the red colour comes from a plant called "Madder". This is a wild plant that grows amongst cotton plants. Local cotton farmers are very happy to have their fields weeded each summer. 

The one exception is the blue which is contained in Indigo , and has to be imported from India (as it has been for many hundreds of years).

This is important because the blue is needed to make green and purple ! Fortunately, indigo is a compact and strong dye , so a large volume is not needed to make excellent blues.

Once the wools are dyed ready, then the loom can be set up.

Most looms in the DOBAG project are in the weavers own home.

The warp threads which are the basis of the carpet are stretched across the loom. These are usually cotton, but can be wool or even silk.

Individual knots are tied and squashed together until the carpet is complete. This tool is called a beating comb. the process is the same with kilims but with different knots.

The designs are usually made from memory.

Once the weaving is finished (which takes ages!) , the carpet is washed with soap and water and left to dry.