Shirdak is a felt carpet , one of the most complicated in its technique for manufacturing felt products from Kyrgyz people.
For the Kyrgyz, the shirdaki along with the kyiz were the necessities of everyday life. They were laid on the floor or on the grass . Recently, small shirdaks have been very popular among foreign tourists.
The usual size of the shirdak is 2 × 4 m. It consists of a felt base and artfully cut pieces of colored felt sewn to it, which are a kind of ornament. Felt parts are joined with special stitches.
Ornaments are stylized images of some parts of animals: the tail of a dog , the horns of mountain goats , the claws of birds, and so on, which in turn are special signs that have a certain meaning and significance.
The main color combinations used in the manufacture of shirdak are: red and white, red and blue, red, white and brown. Each shirdak should end at the edges with a black and white pair of flowers (they symbolize the snowy tops of the Kyrgyz mountains). Previously, only natural paints were used (madder root, indigo, isparak (liveliness)). Modern craftswomen dye their wool with aniline dyes.
Dressing
The final phase of shirdak production traditionally takes place in winter. In general, the whole process takes place throughout the year: in the spring, wool is sheared, then it is washed, dried, ruffled, dyed, fluffed, and then, using boiling water, soap and chiya (whose is a reed mat), a kiiz is a felt carpet, in this case one color.
The shirdak ornament is dominated by two colors. Two layers of felt of different colors are superimposed on each other, apply a drawing, cut the ornament simultaneously in two layers with a sharp tool. Then cut parts of various colors are joined together and sewn to each other with special seams. Thus, from the prepared materials, two identical drawings are obtained at once. The difference between them is small. For example, if a pair of white and brown colors is used, then in one drawing we will see a brown ornament on a white background, and in the second - a white ornament on a brown background. These two ornaments are symmetrically superimposed on one thick felt base and a shirdak is obtained. If the ornamental blanks are in full size, then they make two similar shirdaks at once.