August 07, 2012

"I Had No Idea How Much Emotion I Could Feel Over These Things"

"Rescuing a Dying Art"

Jennifer Gaudet of Jennifer's Hamam, interviewed by Kimberley Strathearn about rescuing looms in Turkey and re-employing skilled production weavers.  

According to the Jennifer's Hamam website, their Turkish bath towels can be expected to last twenty years, much longer than factory-made towels, because the cloth is constructed using shuttles.  I find it interesting when people point out a link between structure and functional performance.

In the article "Towels Fit for a Sultan," Today's Zaman, December 8, 2010, http://www.todayszaman.com/news-229022-towels-fit-for-a-sultan.html, Gaudet talks about the weavers, their equipment and how they work.  She says, "It takes two to six days to weave one big 1.8 kilogram towel and one to three weeks to weave a bathrobe."

You can find videos of the weavers in action through the Jennifer's Hamam Facebook page.  They use fly shuttles, their weaving is rapid and noisy with a rhythm.  The looms are similar to the looms in the video of Harris tweed weavers I linked to in a previous post.

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