Do you know how much time your tailor takes to stitch a garment? Probably a few days. But do you know how long you must wait for a traditional, handwoven Turkish carpet to be ready? A whole year! And undoubtedly, it costs thousands of dollars.
This tradition of Turkish women weaving carpets by hand is almost 1,000 years old. The base fabric is either silk or wool, on which they weave typical motifs, plants, and animals.
Master weavers take six months to finish about 3 square feet of carpet – the size of a hand towel. But these women weave their carpets with such enthusiasm that when they’re ready, they turn into the happiest people on Earth!
Turkiye depends heavily on tourist dollars. However, in the last few years, its tourist base has changed a lot. Many people have started buying cheaper rugs made in India or China. During and after the pandemic lockdown, number of tourists visiting Turkiye declined even further.
Thus, manufacturers are now exporting handwoven Turkish carpets to other countries. What a great idea! The carpet export revenue has increased significantly in the last decade.
No machine-made carpet can beat the elegance of a handwoven one.