A hand-woven carpet is made by interlacing vertical (warp/tana) and horizontal (weft/bana) threads of yarn. The intertwining of the threads is made on a hand-loom on which the operators can weave a wide variety of patterns.

A hand-loom is operated by one to three weavers depending on the width of its structure. And, for every four hand-loom, a master weaver is generally assigned to supervise the smooth conduct of the weaving, as well as plan, prepare and maintain the equipment.

Most hand-woven carpets are flat, light, flexible and reversible carpets, also known as dhurries or flat-weaves.

However, they can come in multiple different formats, ranging from flat to shaggy, with and without backing, and can even be used as a canvas for hand-tufted and table-tufted carpets.

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Three types of hand-looms are used inside of our factory :

• The pit-loom

• The broad-loom (or frame-loom)

• The panja-loom

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The type of hand-loom used is dictated by the type of design aimed to be woven. 

The more elaborate the design, the more hand-work is often required. Thus, the less machine assistance will be required

hand-work is needed to elaborate the design, the less loom assistance will be required 

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The pit-loom is originally a horizontal hand-loom built around a hole inside which the weavers take place to weave. However, even if the name persists, most pit-loom in the industry now refer to regular hand-looms designed to use flying shuttles, as their mechanism are identical. 

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The panja-loom takes its name from the tool used by the weavers to tighten the vertical threads of yarns. It is a vertical hand-loom on which the vertical threads of yarns are inserted between the horizontal ones manually and then beaten in place with a panja, a racket-like tool with claws.

The process of weaving on a panja-loom is the longest but allows the weavers to disregard constraints brought by all other hand-looms in terms of design and patterns. It is possible to weave any kind of complex design, within certain resolution limits.

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Note that panja, while being the main tool used on a panja-loom, can also be used elsewhere, such as on a pit-loom, when a high degree of tightness is required.