VISITING VARIOUS PRODUCTION SITES
In spring I had the opportunity to be able to see how pestemals are produced. One fine morning I departed from Istanbul Atatürk at 6 o'clock and flew to the production heart of home textiles in Turkey.
TRADITION
In certain regions of Turkey, the traditional art of weaving has been handed down through the generations. Today weaving still serves as an important source of income for these regions.
From these original handlooms, which are still in use, simple semi-automatic machines were added to textile production.
SEMI-AUTOMATIC LOOMS
Three-dimensional templates, attached above the loom, determine the design pattern of the pestemal. A basic colour is chosen and the horizontal stripes of the pestemal are woven in by manually changing the yarns. Mindful attention is required during the weaving process to ensure mechanical consistency in the weaving process and to ensure the correct pattern design.
HOME WORK STUDIOS
The families who live and work in the villages each own one or two of these semi-automatic looms, either in the house, in their garage or, in a separate workshop in their yard.
A TYPICAL STROLL
During a walk through the village, you can hear the rhythmic click-like sounds of the looms that is characteristic for a weavers village.
YARNS
Cotton is sown and harvested from Turkish fields and spun into a raw yarn. In the local dying factories the yarn is colored under azo-dye-free conditions (win win for the environment and the workers) and then it is brought to the textile producers. The dyed yarn must first be wound onto appropriate spindles before being further processed.
FAMILY BUSINESS
Weaver families are generally contracted to produce an order on behalf of an employer in home production.
These home studios enable the weaver families to flexibly organize their day to day life. Often production days are long and the looms need permanent supervision.
TreatyouTowels Zarif traditional Pestemal is an example of home studio production.
FULLY AUTOMATED TEXTILE PRODUCTION
These days, fully automatic weaving machines in larger textile production facilities can create pestemals in massive quantities.
The precision and regularity of the weave is thus more reliably guaranteed, production volume increased allowing price conscious consumers a lower priced option compared to black loomed production and especially handcrafted pestemals.
ON SPECIFYING THE PATTERN
These large white sheets being fed into this fully automated machine are punch cards, which determine the pestemals pattern line by line. The weaving process may be automated but the machines require constant monitoring by actual people.
FROM FRINGE CREATION TO QUALITY CONTROL
The woven pestemals are now outsourced to neighbouring village families to turn, twist, twirl the ends into the characteristic fringes.
Now the pestemals are sent back to the production site for quality control, where a team of women check every centimeter of the towel.
TO CONCLUDE
The pestemals are now placed in storage until they are ready to be packaged for shipping.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE
After visiting these Turkish production facilities, I left with a deep overall impression that moved and touched me in general, as I had the privilege to come into personal contact with the local people, their work, traditions and culture.
In addition to all of this, I was delighted by the culinary experiences at the local kebab restaurant and had the special pleasure of a privately guided tour of the local textile museum.