Studio Potato

Studio Potato is an independent Istanbul studio, founded by two women, whose handwoven wool and cotton kilims are carried by Halıcızade. Every pattern is drawn for the studio alone and woven by artisan women across Turkey in madder-dyed wool, in short runs — flat-woven floor pieces, wall hangings, cushion covers and table pieces.

This page covers where the studio came from, how its kilims are built, what the named designs are, and which sizes they are woven in. It is a small, fast-turning collection: pieces are made in short runs, and a design that sells out in one size may not come back in it.

An Istanbul studio working on village looms

Two founders, a drawing board in Istanbul, and weaving contracted out to women across Turkey.

The studio was set up around a straightforward observation: Anatolian kilim weaving was being displaced by machine production, and the craft was thinning out with it. Rather than reproduce old patterns, the studio draws new ones and has them woven by hand in the old way — which keeps looms working and puts the weavers on named, paid commissions. Each design belongs to the studio and is not woven for anyone else.

How a Studio Potato kilim is built

Weft-faced flat weave: no pile, no knots, the pattern made by the weft itself.

The warp runs the length of the loom under tension and stays hidden. The weft crosses it and is beaten down hard enough to cover it completely, so the surface you see is weft and nothing else. That is what makes a kilim thin, reversible, light enough to hang and quick enough to weave in weeks rather than months. It is also why a kilim reads as flat color and hard edges where a knotted rug can shade and curve. More on the structure sits with flat-woven rugs and kilims.

Handwoven wool or machine-woven cotton

The studio runs two lines, and they are not interchangeable.

	Handwoven line	Machine-woven line
Fiber	Wool	Cotton
Color	Madder-and-indigo dyeing, in lots	Piece-dyed, uniform
Made on	Purpose-built hand looms, one piece at a time	Power loom
Weight and feel	Denser, warmer, some tonal drift across the field	Thin, light, flat color
Suits	Bedrooms, children's rooms, sitting rooms	Kitchens, balconies, covered terraces, anywhere that gets lifted and shaken out

The designs, and the sizes they come in

Each pattern is drawn and named on its own, and most run across the full size range.

Block Party, Terra Potta, Flow, Liber, Pink Division, Inner Reflection, Drop and Bubble Trouble are compositions rather than motifs — blocks, bands, dropped circles and split fields, in indigo and navy, madder red, terracotta, plum and undyed natural wool. Sizes run as follows.

• 80 x 140 cm (2'7" x 4'7"), 1.1 m² — entry mat, bedside, in front of a sink
• 120 x 170 cm (3'11" x 5'7"), 2.0 m² — a chair and a small table, a child's floor
• 160 x 210 cm (5'3" x 6'11"), 3.4 m² — foot of a double bed, a small sitting area
• 170 x 240 cm (5'7" x 7'10"), 4.1 m² — a sofa and coffee table with front legs on the kilim
• 200 x 300 cm (6'7" x 9'10"), 6.0 m² — a standard living room
• 250 x 340 cm (8'2" x 11'2"), 8.5 m² — a large living room, all furniture legs on

Off the floor

The studio makes as much for the wall and the table as for the floor.

Wall pieces are woven small and hung as textiles rather than laid down. Cushion covers come with pads and pull off for washing. Placemats and coasters are woven from the same wool in the same palette, which is the cheapest way into the studio's work and the way most people meet it. See the rest of the category in rug and kilim accessories.

Living with one

A kilim asks less than a pile rug and forgives less.

Shake it out or vacuum it with the beater bar off — a beater bar catches a flat weave and pulls the weft. Rotate it twice a year, and put a thin non-slip pad under it on a hard floor, since a kilim with no pile to weigh it down will travel. Blot spills rather than rubbing them. The wool line goes to a professional rug washer, never into a machine.

Frequently asked questions

Who is behind Studio Potato?

Two women who founded the studio in Istanbul to put contemporary drawing back onto a traditional loom. The studio designs every pattern itself and has the weaving done by artisan women in workshops across Turkey.

Is Studio Potato part of Halıcızade?

No. Studio Potato is an independent label; Halıcızade carries its work alongside its own production. The designs, the dyeing and the weaving are the studio's, not the house's.

What is a tülü, and how is it different from a kilim?

A tülü is an Anatolian long-pile weaving, shaggy and thick, made for warmth. A kilim is flat-woven with no pile at all. Studio Potato works mainly in kilim, with some pieces in the tülü tradition.

What are Studio Potato kilims made of?

Wool and cotton. The handwoven line is wool colored with madder-and-indigo dyes; a separate machine-woven line is cotton, which is lighter, thinner and easier to lift and shake out.

What sizes are made?

Six sizes, from an 80 x 140 cm mat (2'7" x 4'7") up to 250 x 340 cm (8'2" x 11'2"). Not every design is woven in every size, and the larger sizes are made to order more often than they are held in stock.

Can the cushion covers be washed?

The studio states that the covers come off the pads and go in a machine. The kilims themselves do not: send those to a professional rug washer when they need more than a vacuum.

Are the wall pieces meant to be walked on?

No. The smaller wall pieces are made to hang, not to take traffic. Hang one from a sleeve on a batten so the weight is spread across the top edge rather than pulling on two points.

Related collections: modern kilims · wool rugs · Caché Istanbul