From sheep to rug: how natural dyes are made in Kairouan

Before a single knot is tied, the wool has already been through weeks of work.

Fleece from the steppe is washed in the river, carded and spun by hand on a drop spindle. The yarn is then dyed in copper vats: madder root for reds, pomegranate skin for yellows and browns, indigo for blues, and walnut husks for the darkest tones. A mordant of alum fixes the colour into the fibre.

Natural dyes are never perfectly uniform, which is why a handmade rug has "abrash", the gentle shifts in tone across a field of colour. It is the signature of the dyer's hand and one of the easiest ways to tell a hand-dyed rug from a factory one.