Flat Weave Rugs

 

Flat weaves are all types of weaving that do not have a pile. Kelims, soumacs, palas, dhurries, Verneh and Zileh all come into this category.

 

Kelims are the simplest and most common type of flat weave and they are made in most of the areas that weave pile rugs and carpets.

 

Kelim weave is a weft faced fabric where the design is made up of the coloured wefts which completely cover the warp threads. As the kelim is being woven a slit is often left between one colour and the adjacent colour and if these slits become too long they will make the fabric less viable. For this reason the weaver tends not to use patterns with a lot of vertical lines between the colours and instead uses diagonal lines or stepped lines, thus keeping the slits between the colours short and the structure of the kelim stronger.

 

 

Natural Dyed kelims from Shiraz

Until the late 1860's all dyes were plant based with a mineral mordant. During the 1860's chemical dyes were invented and these gradually became popular because of the ease of use and the cost. Many of the early chemical dyes were less than satisfactory as they faded and the colours often bled if they got wet. Also the colours were often more strident than the natural dyed colours that had been used for generations and which sat harmoniously togther. With time the chemical dyes improved and became more stable and were largely used to replace the natural dyes.

We stock new kelims, woven in the Shiraz region of Iran made with hand spun wool and natural dyes. Handspun yarn varies in thickness which means that the colour varies a little when it is dyed. This gives a variation and a liveliness to the colour when it is woven.

 

 

 

 

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