All About The Weaving
Our Turkish towels, blankets and throws are produced and sourced in the province of Denizli in the South West of Turkey. Historically Denizli is famous for being the most vibrant region for cloth production in Western Anatolia during the late 19th century, in particular the handwoven textiles produced in the tiny surrounding villages of Buldan and Kadıköy and Babadağ. 17th century Ottoman documents mention Buldan's importance as a centre for textile production, describing how cotton was spun, dyed and woven in Buldan. The Buldan weavers were especially renowned for the thin handwoven fabric they produced for peshtemal or hammam towels, a staple of the Ottoman hammam culture dating back hundreds of years, the Turkish towel was originally designed to help individual hammam bathers maintain their privacy.
We source our textiles from weavers who produce Turkish towels, throws and blankets using either traditional wooden shuttle hand looms or semi-automatic looms. We do not sell machine manufactured textiles as this process has a tendency to put more stress and tension on the cotton yarn as the machines work so fast they generate heat that weakens the fibres and which can result in an inferior or stiffer fabric. Traditional shuttle looms or semi-automatic weaving is a much slower and gentler process which helps to preserve the integrity and strength of the fibres. Increasingly, in order to grow their businesses, meet demand for orders and encourage their children to enter the family business, weavers now use semi-automatic looms alongside their traditional wooden shuttle looms.
Textile weaving is a tradition still actively pursued in these villages to this day, often still produced in the homes of the artisans who have been hand looming towels and throws for centuries. Weaving Turkish towels is a family tradition passed on through generations. Turkish towel weaving is very much like weaving a rug: expressing your feelings & emotions through the pattern they weave and the colour schemes they use. They are highly personal, and each weaver has a different way of weaving even if they weave the same pattern as another weaver, they always turn out different unless they are made by the same artisan. The skilled artisans name their own patterns and trademark that pattern under their name.
Take a peek here at some of our beautiful handwoven throws, or pike ( pee-kay ) as they call them in Turkey.