Carpet manufacturing techniques

Handmade carpet

Nowadays, in some parts of Morocco, wool is considered a shipment from God. It is said that it can protect against the forces of evil. From cutting to weaving, the wool is treated with care and worked according to a very precise ritual passed down from generation to generation. Then, after cutting, the wool is kept in a discreet room in the house.

When they wash the wool in the river, the weavers say: "Wool like wheat creates abundance". After the dyeing, which will change the aspect of the wool without changing its thermal insulation, its resistance and its comfort, the wool is again worked according to precise rituals. The day before the dyeing, they expose the baths to starlight to get rid of its evil capacities.

The weaver fumigates the wool ready to be dyed, hides it and purifies herself as if she were preparing to pray. The next day, at dawn, she returns to the bath she has exposed to the stars without turning around. Then she begins the dyeing after having pronounced a prayer, the "Basmala". 

For the weaving, the weaver asks the help of two neighbours to set up her loom. After driving two stakes into the ground, the owner of the loom says the "Basmala" and then crushes sugar lumps between the two stakes. Then the three weavers sing the following phrases: 

"We want to set up the loom, 

Every loom that comes into being

Must be finished,

And Allah will sanctify him

And protect us

The evil eye

And bad luck

Today and always".

In some Atlas tribes, when a woman sells or buys a carpet (which is created for more than a year), the event is perceived as if God has sent a good omen and a great feast is held. On the other hand, in other tribes, the end of weaving is seen as the loss of a child who has been known and brought up for a long time. The end of weaving is accompanied by cries of lamentation and tears. 

In order to have a woollen thread of 3 to 5 cm, the women wrap a very tight and regular thread on a stick that they have cut. Around two warp threads, they form decorative knots.

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