 |
| Both photos from the Bursa City Museum |
Costumes. Folk costumes are worn
mostly by village people on special occasions.
We didn't visit many ethnological museums during our stay… However,
there’s always next year!
Knitting & Crochet. Look for some wildly exotic socks or
vintage-style crochet in the tiny village of Sirince. A glass or two of their fruit wines will help
decide your purchases.
 |
| Bursa, City Museum |
Needle Lace. Buy unusual needle lace jewellery
made in a technique called oya. We found
pieces in both the Arasta & Grand Bazaar.
I found information on Pintrest (this link is just one of a few when you Google) and at a women’s cooperative web site,
istanbuloya.
Felting. In Konya, at the studio of
Master Felter Mehmet Girgic, we had the age old craft of felting demonstrated for us. Silvia,
his artist wife, explained the traditional Turkish method of kicking &
rolling woollen fibres to have them felt.
She takes a modern approach, producing hand-dyed (in natural dyes)
pieces. The Ikonium Studio however still
produce orders of sikke, or caps worn by whirling dervishes, as the family have
done for generations.
 |
| Silvia demonstrating felting techniques |
Weaving. The closest we got to
weaving was in Bursa at the Koza Han. Bursa had once been an important silk
weaving city and, given the selection of goodies at the Han, settled its
heritage as a principle trading market of the East. There was a fantastic
selection of linen, silk and cotton available.
(I’m not sure if flax is woven any more, but it certainly was available
in the 14th c.)
Patchwork. Try as we may, studios producing patchwork
alluded us. We were informed that quilting is
(or maybe was) largely a domestic product and produced by men professionally –
not at all in the style we associate with the craft.
 |
| Serious textile shopping in the Koza Han, Bursa |
Dyed, Printed & Painted Fabrics.
Fabrics are dyed with either natural dyes or commercially available ones. Silk or cotton ikat is a wonderful example
and we saw many designs (mostly in cushions), although a lot is screen printed –
a faster, cost effective method. Real
ikats can be had however, just buy from “creditable” shops in any bazaar,
although Koza Han in Bursa is where I’d put my money. Do ask where it was woven… Turkey has its own variant of hand block
printed fabrics called yazma.
 |
| Wools dyed with natural materials, Ikonium Studio, Konya |
Embroidery. I was lucky enough to
find a tea dyed cotton/linen suzani.
Though not from Turkey, the heritage of the technique is nearby Uzbekistan. Somehow I had it in my head that they were
applique pieces, but after some detailed research, I’ve discovered that traditionally,
suzani are indeed embroidered. I just
love my pomegranate design.
 |
| Knitting at home |
