Rugs weaving

Rugs and carpets industry is one of the famous traditional handicrafts in Jordan. Handcrafted wooden looms are used in rugs and carpet manufacturing. One or more individuals weave the carpet from hand-spun wool threads using a small-scale workshop compared to other textile industries. Wool or cotton threads are used either in their natural colors or dyed with known colors. The carpet or the rug is woven in various sizes and according to customer’s orders. The rug or the carpet is decorated with geometric patterns in the center or with equally colored lines.
This industry relies on the wool of sheep, goats, and camel hair. The spinning and weaving process begins in spring when men shear the animals’ wool to prepare it for summer or when the weather is moderate. Men collect the wool from each animal separately, which is called a “juzah.” Women need about twenty “juzahs” to make one carpet, and they sort the wool of animals according to its colors. In the past people used to use natural herbs dyeing, such as roots of some trees, and today the industry developed into using dyes purchased from vendors. After dyeing, the wool is spread out to dry, and then two threads are twisted together in the opposite direction of spinning to make the thread stronger. Wool threads are the main material, along with a spindle, scissors, and a tool called “nira,” used for crossing the threads.
Then the spinning process begins to produce thin threads. Women spin throughout the year, and the white wool is dyed with traditional colors, starting from red to yellow, green, and blue. Weaving wool is considered as a craft divided into two types based on the type of the loom used and the weaving method. Traditional Bedouin fabric is woven with a ground loom, where the colored wool is vertically stretched and the colors are distributed in lines. The second method is the vertical loom, which is usually operated by men.
Women who practice the art of weaving on looms create magnificent textiles with beautifully colored threads, reflecting the effort they put into producing the final pieces of fabric.
The loom is considered one of the oldest tools used to produce woolen textiles, which have continued since the beginnings of human on the earth. It has several types that vary in size, components, and other things. Looms are classified into three different types: frame loom, heddle loom, and tape loom, also known as horizontal and vertical looms.
The types differ in the type of manufacturing frame, with some made of wood and others made of iron. Typically, some nails and pegs are fully or partially fixed in it, and screws are used to tighten the threads used in weaving. The fixing process depends on what the weaver intends to achieve.
Weaving on looms is considered one of the crafts threatened with extinction. This occurs because of the time and effort required for accomplishing the process of weaving, resulting in higher prices for its products compared to those produced by advanced machines.