As a textile designer, I have been developing a hand-knotted rug collection during three months with Sarawagi Rugs in their office in Kathmandu. By being close to the manufacturing process, I got a thorough understanding about traditional dyeing and the hand-knotting traditional technique.
While conceptualizing and designing the collection, I have been completely involved in this handcraft process from the very beginning: the yarns, the dyeing to the weaving part.
Learning from the Dreamweavers how to weave and try the different techniques helped me a lot to understand all the possibilities in order to interpret in my designs. Furthermore, while working with these craftsmen, I could feel they wanted to share their knowledge and find other ways to communicate and to be understandable when the language was not the same.
![broken image](http://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/865644/IMG_6249_xlcxk5.jpg)
The fact that the project calls upon craftsmen rather than machines opens up more possibilities as it leads to a re-examination of the know-how involved in rug making. Exploring the hand-knotting technique in my work as a designer is also a way to support skills, which bring cultural values to a final product. I believe that re-invention and innovation are possible when there is a concise understanding of traditional skills and practices.
"The fact that the project calls upon craftsmen rather than machines opens up more possibilities as it leads to a re-examination of the know-how involved in rug making. "
![broken image](http://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/865644/P1010217-1_1_gifciv.jpg)
After an amazing and challenging few months of work, i am loving the end result. Stay tuned to our socials to see what i have been working on !
![broken image](http://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/865644/Estelle_with_text_hukpv7.jpg)