Jajim Weaving

Jajim Weaving

Jajim or Jajem means a ’Thick cloth’ like ’Palas’ and also a kind of two-sided carpet, which is thinner than Palas. Jajim is woven with colorful and fine threads of wool or mixture of silk and wool. It is hand woven with no fluff and its two surfaces could be used. It is a tribal weaving and used as a coverlet or protector from coldness.
According to Caroun website, before quilt and blanket, Jajim has been the only coverlet of tribesmen. Although it is rough and coarse, it will become fine and delicate by continuous use very soon.
Weaving of Jajim is simpler than Kilim and also more common. A common Jajim with 2.5 meter length and 2 meter width could be woven in less than a month by two weavers, otherwise rug that has millions of knots or Kilim that has tens of motifs in several colors.
There are fine Jajims woven in tribes, which have three to four millimeter thickness. These Jajims are used for decoration.
Jajim, like Kilim, is woven on horizontal loom. According to the pattern, which weaver has in mind, colorful warps with certain space have been prepared, on loom. Hand spun and fine wefts, prepared by tribe women, passed through warps and beaten by a comb, to be pressed. Warps make images of Jajim.
Common Jajims (Chahar-Koub) are like light and dark checkered in different colors. Motifs could be stripped, square, checkered, toothed, plain and parallel lines, and generally all motifs are along warps.
In ’Qashqai’ tribe, Jajim is also woven as needle lace (called “Rend“) and its motifs are the same as Kilim. These Jajims are mostly common in ’Kashkouli’ and ’Dareshouri’ tribes.
Common Jajims could also be woven in two pieces or more. It means that a narrow stripe with five meter length and 1.5 meter width, is woven; then divided into two pieces. These two pieces are sown together side by side. Salvage in between hides the sown points. These Jajim are called “Double Width“ and could be woven ever by a weaver. If weavers are more than one it is better to be woven in single width. Today it is woven with the width of 20 to 30 centimeters; mostly five parts sown together, made Jajim.

Types of Jajim
’Plain’ and ’Chahar-Koub’ Jajim
Its weave is simpler and more common than other Jajims. It has different kinds of designs and images:
A) Stripe: In different colors, sometimes has Gumpul margin. Parallel lines of these hand-woven have five to one centimeter width and sometimes decorate between rows by fine lines.
B) Checkered: This kind of Jajim is woven in small and large squares. Colorful warps replaced each other and shown applied colors in every square, therefore lighten and darken colors of the ground. Sometimes it is decorated with small woolen Gumpuls and gives it special brightness. This Gumpuls are applied in the center of squares or on the corner of them, in rows or zigzag pattern, as margin of Jajim.
C) Khotab: Khotab is woven in parallel rows or stripped in different colors. Corners of each row have ornaments alike to basic images of ’Kongere Madakhel’, which narrow parts of tooth are towards the inside and in front of each other and makes a fantastic design.
D) Flower: Like other Jajim images, is in parallel lines, but darker colors in each row, beside the next row, placed close to each other in such a way that are seen as a beautiful images. These images, according to weaver’s taste, which is specified by colors, create such beautiful flowers, which are compared to seven color napkin.
E) Toothed: Parallel lines of these Jajims have three to four centimeters width. Each row has specific color. In the middle of each row, “toothed“ basic image passes throughout Jajim length and makes itself apparent among colors.

’Shisheh-Dermah’ Jajim
These Jajims are mostly used for decoration and hardly woven by tribes. ’Shisheh-Dermah’ is usually woven in two dark and light colors and sometimes with a margin, which is in harmony with ground in color. This kind of Jajim is mostly seen in dark blue and white, margin in white and black or in white and red. It is one sided hand-woven, as the extra wefts of its other side are seen. Basic images of ’Shisheh-Dermah’ are lozenges, in which their sides are along each other. In the center of every lozenge, a special motif is woven. Margin is woven in parallel lines and stripped and in harmony with ground.

Needle (Rend)
Images of these Jajims are like those of Kilim (in both ground and margin). Peacock, Cashmere Flower, Khorasan, Lengej, Tehran, Aqajeri, Sormeh-dan, flower leaf, alma flower, images in various colors are mostly used; and wool or fuzz warps and wefts, make images magnificent. Sizes of these Jajims, depending to the usage, are different, but 2x2.5m is more common. Corners of Jajims, used as bedspread, are decorated by Gumpuls and colorful pendants.