Silk Rug Pillows - Harem Worthy

Rug or kilim pillows are very popular, and it is easy to see why. They have beautiful colors and lovely texture, and will add exotic and adventurous spirit to the most plain and reserved room. I love the contrast of modern furniture in neutral colors and rug throw pillows with their lavish colors and patterns.

One not so pleasant feature often found in rug decorative pillows is that they can be not very nice to the touch. The wool they are made of is often quite rough; it would be perfectly normal in their previous live as rugs, but not everyone wants to lie on a sofa with a book and a pillow that makes you itch.

A pillow made of a material as luxurious as a silk rug might be a perfect solution. While possessing the exotic beauty of a kilim, it would be nice to the touch and could serve the practical purpose of a sofa pillow. But who would cut an authentic Persian silk rug for pillows?  Certainly not me.

However I have a very nice vintage Uzbek rug that I bought for myself and never used. It is made either of a silk and cotton mix or of rayon. The colors are beautiful, the pattern is elegant and sophisticated, and, importantly - it is soft and silky to the touch. I have no use for it, and we decided to make pillow covers from it.

I am not sure what sizes are most popular, and would welcome your advice. For now, I am planning to make some 18x18 and 12x16 pillow cases. I bought strong metal zippers and hope that my pillow covers will be long-lasting and beautiful.

I love La grande odalisque by Ingres. She does not have any velour cushions in the picture, but I am somehow certain she would approve of my harem worthy silk rug pillows.

As soon as I make these carpet pillows, I will offer them in my Etsy shop. The rug is not very big, so there will not be many. Besides, there are just two of us - no factory, sorry.

And this photo of peacocks I made in a real harem - the one that belonged to the Emir of Bukhara, located in his summer palace called Sitorai Mokhi Khosa.

A beautiful place; I will write about it separately. In the meantime I will only say that I have been to the real harem, and I can assure you that they did have all sorts of rugs and pillows lying around.

Note: I mean that I have been to the harem as a tourist, and it was not functioning, anyway!