Day 64-Palace Carpets & My 1st Rug

Wax figure of weaver of carpets in Fars History museum in Shiraz, Iran

Today, I want to showcase the carpets (including one I made) for my palace and its annexes. I think I have mentioned earlier that I have always been partial to Persian carpets. I have a nice collection at home as my housemate, FaiZ also loves them. He prefers the classical while I favour flat weaves like Kilims and if it is pile, Baluchi or Turkmen. I have always been more "folk " than "palace" which I have just realised, may be why I am more interested in building the annexes than the palace itself. Or maybe I am just saving the best for last. Hmm...

TURKEY WOVEN (machine) CARPETS (4"by 6 1/2" including fringe) in dusty plastic.
These were bought when I was in Turkey in 1998/99 without knowing that years later I would be crazy about dollhouse.

Do you know that despite being one of the oldest civilisation in the world, carpets was introduced in India only in 1526 AD when the expatriate Timurid prince Babur invaded India and founded the Mughal Dynasty? Apparently up till that time, floorings and carpets in Indian homes comprised mainly of mats and durries with a variety of material, ranging from wool, cotton, jute, coir, bamboo and grass. Babur was missing the comforts of home so much especially Persian carpets that he brought master weavers from Persia to India to start carpet weavings centers at Agra, Delhi and Lahore.

EARLY EUROPEAN WEAVES-(4"by 6 1/2" including fringe)
These were made by Mercedes from a piece of fabric an elderly lady gave her a couple of years ago. She very kindly included these in her "Cheer-Me-Up" package (Day 63)

From the reign of Akbar (Remember Fatehpur Sikri?), carpet weaving became an important form of artistic expression in India. Over time , Mughal carpets evolved, strongly influenced by European designs. Colours became brighter and rich tones of red and green contrasting against ivory or white was used.

KASHMIRI HANDWOVEN SILK CARPETS (12" top pics, 4" by 5" bottom)

These were bought last month at Arab Street for S$18 each for the larger pieces and S$4-5 for the smaller ones. They are made of silk and extremely soft to touch. I hope to be able to show you by this weekend what I intend to do with them.

Thanks to a massive training programme in carpet weaving, Kashmiri girls have started a thriving carpet industry in Kashmir.According to the history of Indian carpets, the designs and patterns in Kashmir carpets continue to be inspired by Persian and central Asian rugs . Kashmiri craftsmen are noted for producing museum quality and the most intricate designed carpets. This is a true myth : It is said that a beautiful Kashmiri carpet once so charmed Maharajah Ranjit Singh that he rolled on it in great joy all day long.

HANDWOVEN WOOL PILE AFGHAN (3" by 4 1/2")

(12" )

I really love this piece, also bought at Arab Street, because it reminded me of the pillow cover I bought from a shop in Islamabad, Pakistan selling weaves by women refugees from Afghanistan (right pic).

This is what I found out about Afghans: Afghans are made by Turkmen weavers in northern Afghanistan. A hundred years ago the guls (as the octagonal figures are properly called) were large — often 16 inches wide in bigger rugs. Guls have become smaller over the years until today they most often are no more than several inches across. As the guls have shrunk, so has the range of colors in the rugs. Today most Afghans contain only two colors: a rather bright red and a blue so deep that it looks black.

Saryk-Turkoman Rug (5" by 8 1/2" including fringe)

I started this rug on 22 Feb 2009 according to this journal at Day 32. I finished it today, 81 days later.

At 2 months, this is where I was (left pic). The carpet was crooked and it was getting more so by the stitches. I remembered I was very demoralised at one point and actually stopped working on it for a while. Didn't help when I saw how other "mini -weavers" are doing such a great job with theirs.

The thing about stitching though, is that it is very portable, calming and makes waiting for anything tolerable. Just take out my carpet which I bring with me everywhere and I can wait, even for hours.

To say my rug is not exactly great is being kind. I made so many mistakes. 1stly, wrong number of threads,-should have used 3 instead of 2 (see white spots?). Also, not sure how I created a trapezium rug. Mum said it could be me pulling too hard. Maybe it was sewing through to the next stitch in 1 move instead of patiently doing the sew through and then out method . Perhaps I should have used the hoop.

Anyway, as I was also not sure how to finish the rug edge and fringe, I sought help from Casey who so very kindly did a post on finishing a rug. When I still couldn't get how to straighten it, she told me this :

Sans, Take your rug and face down, spray it with water and stretch it, pulling diagonal corners so that it goes back to square. Sometimes you can simply do this several times, ironing with steam between pulling and it will eventually square up. If that doesn't do it, then I resort to pinning it. When you do that you have to just let alone until it dries completely....

That's what I did. I watered, pulled. Next day, I steam-ironed and then got Fafa to help pull. It became better but I lost patience. So I decided to edge and fringe 1st (using Casey's suggestion -3rd method).

After that, I called on my men for help:

BUT they kept falling down. Spoilt, rich and completely useless! So my next resort:

Yea, see my baby elephant? New to the palace and so very cute. Alas, he was too strong for my camel. So my LAST RESORT:

Ok, some defects can't be cured even with a whole convoy of camels and elephants.

With that, I decided this shall be the story of my rug. It is an old antique piece not unlike this Dowry Kilim, Inventory Number: 3725. Age: Indeterminable, Price: Expensive.

Tomorrow, I will try and pin it. Thank you Casey! Don't give up on me, my next one will be straighter!