Daja Designs is a small, family operated, business run by my husband, myself and our two boys. Believe it not, they love to help. My husband and I have always been drawn to the clothing and textiles of his family's heritage, his mother and father were born in the Slovak Republic. The family heirlooms his mother has shared with us are absolutely incredible and beautiful, all handmade and unique. Daja Designs was born in an effort to share the beauty of his Eastern European heritage with the world.
The gorgeous panels that you see on our bags are all handcrafted, dating back to the early 1940's and beyond. Currently, many of them feature Turkish Kilim. I fell in love with kilims when I started learning more about the motifs and their meanings. I am still learning so please know that I am not expert, nor will I pretend to be. The reason I am sharing this is because I think having a little more understanding of the motifs can greatly increase the joy and admiration of owning one of our bags that feature these amazing designs.
Traditionally woven by women, kilim rugs feature motifs that are used to express beliefs, social status, love, marriage, happiness, joy, sadness and so much more.
Here are a few of my favorites:
- Nazar (Evil Eye): It is believed that some people possess a power in their glance which can cause harm, misfortune, injury and possibly death. The Nazar (evil eye) motif is believed to reduce the effect of the evil glance, thus protecting the ones who carry them.
- Yildiz (Star motif): I have found a few different meanings for this, but I find mostly they say the star motif is generally thought to mean happiness. There are a few that say the star also symbolizes the womb meaning it could be identified as a fertility motif.
Make sure to check back for more....