Üzümlü Dastar - A Local Craft
When you're in Üzümlü, be sure to look up products of the famous local craft, Üzümlü dastar.
When we posted about the Üzümlü Mushroom Festival, I mentioned that the whole event was a great opportunity for Üzümlü to show itself off to all the visitors who attended the three-day event.
So, not only were we treated to a feast of morel mushrooms, but we got a chance to view a local craft that Üzümlü is perhaps most famous for.
Dastar is a cotton woven fabric, and many families in Üzümlü make their living by weaving the fabric on these looms and making it into tablecloths, scarves and clothing.
When we were at the mushroom festival, local families were displaying their dastar creations by draping them over walls and hanging them from washing lines.
Weaving dastar was a dying skill in Üzümlü but efforts have been made of late to keep the skill alive and promote the goods.
Certainly while we were at the mushroom festival, local Fethiye people were appreciating the creations and buying various items; great for the local economy and encouraging to see people appreciating their local, traditional crafts.
If you visit the Fethiye area, dastar makes a perfect souvenir.
It's traditional, handmade (probably in the home you buy it from if you make your purchase in Üzümlü), good value and it's easy to pack into your suitcase when you're going home.
At the mushroom festival, some of the small table runners were selling for a few lira so your local souvenir isn't going to break the bank.
Go on! Treat yourself...
First, your blog is a wealth of useful information. Thank you so much! I’m interested in purchasing a dastar piece. If I drove up there tomorrow…how would I go about doing that? Is there an artisans’ shop or co-op? A market day?
Hi Nicole, thanks a lot for your lovely comment. Much appreciated and gald you find the blog useful. 🙂 Üzümlü is easy to get to by car. If you head to the D400 (the big main road that goes to Dalaman Airport), and turn right there, towards Antalya rather than Dalaman, you'll see the signs for Üzümlü, pointing you to turn left at the lights. It's a big junction so you can't miss it. Üzümlü is straight up that mountain road. A lot of the locals there make their own dastar and sell it outside their houses. There's also a new(ish) dastar centre but we haven't been to that so don't know what it's like - or if it's in action at the moment. 🙂 If you want market day, that's Fridays. 🙂
@ Belinda: All really pretty stuff, too. There's a bit of a push at the moment to save local skills like this before they die out.
@ David: Very true.
@ Sarah: Everything the ladies produce is beautiful. Never heard of Josephine Powell before. Will have a look at the website you sent. Thanks a lot for that. 🙂
So beautiful. This is the reason Josephine Powell studied the textile art of the Turkish people. Here is a website about her. http://www.marlamallett.com/powell.htm
Weaving has always interested me. It is such a basic and 'true' craft.
It's so incredible that this is still being hand crafted versus in some big factory!