carpets

The origin of carpet weaving in Kashmir valley dates back to the 15th century when the great ruler, Sultan Zainul Aabideen, popularly known as Budshah, brought some skilled Persian craftsmen to the valley. Local artisans not only picked up the skills but excelled and took the art to new heights with their industriousness and proficiency. During the Budshah’s regime, the art of carpet weaving flourished as he was a great supporter and true lover of arts and crafts.

Kashmiri carpets have since gained international fame and carved a niche in the world market for themselves because of their beauty, strength and durability. They are uniquely woven and knotted by hand, unlike the commonly available tufted carpets. Hand-woven and hand-knotted carpets have an impressive longevity because their durability comes from the delicate and intricate knots made by hand. These find patrons in national and international markets because of the indelible impression they leave on the beholder.

During the mid 18th century, Kashmiri carpets of the Mughal era were on display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London.

Kashmiri carpets are the hand-knotted categories of carpets and are handwoven by tying knots. These carpets are made in a “karkhana” or “carpet factory” where the skilled weavers work together to craft the wonders of art.

At carpets of Kashmir, there is a three-step process involved to make a Kashmiri carpet: Designing- Dyeing-Weaving.

Some of the finest raw materials are used in crafting the carpets: pure natural Mulberry silk, 100% Merino wool and a perfect blend of wool-silk; to deliver masterpieces to our clients; who cherish the carpets for decades, if not more.

1. Designing a carpet

The first and foremost step involves the designing of a carpet. Design and motifs are finalized and then comes the selection of a colour. After the colour selection comes the final layout of a carpet. The carpet weavers follow a written code known as Talim later to design a carpet.

2. Dyeing

After the finalization of the design and color, the yarn is sent out for dyeing. Later, this dyed yarn is left to dry in the sunlight.

We exclusively use Azo-free, chrome and eco-friendly dyes for all our products.

3. Weaving

The process of weaving takes place in the following steps:

The dried ball of yarn passes to the carpet weavers which the weaver sets upon his loom.

The weaver then prepares a strong foundation of warp and weft. Warp runs vertically to the loom whereas weft runs horizontally.

It begins at the bottom of the loom bypassing several wefts through the warps

Knots of the dyed material is tied in rows around consecutive sets of adjacent warps. More rows are tied to the foundation, hence become the pile of the carpet.

Also, between each row of knots, one more section of weft is passed down to keep the knots stable and fixed in place.

Wefts are then beaten by a comb-like instrument. The comb beater is used to beat the weft to secure the newly woven row in a carpet.

After completion, the warp ends form the fringes that are then weft-faced or are secured in other ways.