Antique Turkish Kilim Repair - Mid Process





Luckily, the professional cleaning of this lovely Turkish kilim removed the smell of pet urine and got it ready for the next step of our repair project.  Our client's new puppy took a good chunk out of the kilim's central field and border and it was our job to recreate the beautiful weaving that was done dozens of years ago when the kilim was first made.  We attached the kilim to a table loom, rebuilt the warp, and started the weft recreation as well.  Matching yarns to the existing kilim is always a challenge, but luckily we were able to find just the right muted palette.  
Working on kilims can be more challenging than working on hand knotted rugs because a rug's pile can conceal some of our repair or restoration imperfections.  In a kilim, there is really no place to conceal any errors.  All the weaving is immediately visible.  I find them a joy to work on as results are immediately visible.  There is something about a kilim's texture that I find immensely pleasing and I sense that many owners of kilims appreciate this feature as well.  It's hard to believe that kilims were once looked down upon - even used as wrapping material for more valuable hand knotted rugs!    --www.traditionalrugrepair.com