Qadeem Stories: a place for the crafts our homes were built on

In the homes most of us grew up in, the beautiful things were not bought. The women of the house made them. Cushions stitched by hand. Crochet worked loop by loop. Plain cloth turned, one stitch at a time, into something a family keeps for a lifetime. That was the way of life in Gilgit: organic in the oldest sense of the word, made and mended at home, with money only a small part of it.

Life is different now. Nearly everything runs on money, and skills that never had a price are too easily treated as if they have no value. The women still have the skill. What has been missing is a fair way for that skill to earn.

Where Qadeem began

Qadeem Crafts started as an outlet for carpets, rugs and kilims. Qadeem means ancient, and the name is a reminder of what we are here for: to respect the heritage and culture these pieces come from.

As the business grew, all of us behind it wanted to give something back to the community. We chose to put what we are good at to work for it: finding buyers who value handmade work, and paying the people who make it properly.

The women who have made with us from the start

From our very first days, a group of women from Gilgit has worked with us. They make handcrafted cushions, crochet and hand-stitched art, in their own homes and on their own time.

When one of their pieces sells, the woman who made it receives a fair share of the sale. The money is hers, earned with her own hands, without leaving home to earn it. That is what empowerment means to us: not charity, but a skill finally paid what it is worth.

Why this matters for women

For many women in our valleys, the working day is spent at home, and the skill in their hands has always been part of it. What that skill has rarely brought is an income of their own.

An income of her own changes more than a household budget. It can mean a say in how money is spent, the means to pay for her children's schooling or her own needs, and the quiet confidence of being paid for something she is good at. A skill that was taken for granted becomes one that is respected, inside the family and outside it.

Because the work is done at home, on her own time, no woman has to choose between earning and everything else in her life.

And when a skill earns, it is passed on. A daughter who sees her mother's crochet sell has every reason to learn it. That is how a craft survives: not by being admired, but by being worth doing.

Qadeem Stories: a place of our own

The next step is bigger than any one of us. We are building a community centre where anyone can come to craft, and we are calling it Qadeem Stories.

It will work less like a shop and more like a museum. Every piece made there is displayed with the story of the person who made it. Whether it is sold is the maker's decision, not ours. If a maker does choose to sell, they can give a small cut to Qadeem Stories, and that money goes into growing the centre, so the next person who walks in has more to learn with.

We are putting our own money behind it from the start. 5% of every sale on Qadeem Crafts goes to Qadeem Stories. Every carpet, kilim or cushion you buy here helps build it.

The name is the idea. Qadeem means ancient. The stories belong to the people carrying that heritage forward.

How it begins

We are starting small, and we would rather be honest about where we are than promise what we have not built yet.

1. Find the space. Somewhere easy to reach for the people it is meant for. This is the first job, and it is where we are today.
2. Bring in tufting equipment. Tufting is our first craft: the tools are within reach, and a beginner sees a finished piece quickly.
3. Hold the first training session, with @shakiiiee. Open to anyone who wants to learn, woman or man, with or without experience.
4. Grow into carpet making. Once the centre is on its feet, we will add the equipment used to make handmade carpets, the craft Qadeem was founded on.

Why tufting first

Hand-knotting a carpet takes years to learn and months to finish a single piece. Tufting is quicker to learn and quicker to reward: with a tufting gun and a frame, a new maker can turn out bold, colourful rugs, wall hangings and cushions early on, and start earning while they build their skill.

One promise comes with it. A tufted piece will always be sold as tufted. It is a different craft from hand-knotting, and our buying guide explains exactly how to tell the two apart. We will never blur that line.

Our first teacher: @shakiiiee

The first session will be led by @shakiiiee, a good friend of Qadeem, a remarkably talented tufting artist, and our respected guru. Anyone is welcome to come and learn. We will announce the date and the place as soon as the space is ready.

Following KADO's lead

We are not the first to believe that craft can change lives here. The Karakorum Area Development Organization (KADO) has worked in Hunza since 1996. At its Sharma Centre, persons with disabilities are trained to make sharma, Hunza's traditional handwoven rug, from start to finish: spinning the hair and wool of the region's animals into thread, then weaving that thread into the rug.

It is work we admire deeply. KADO is an independent organisation, not part of Qadeem, and we name it here because it shows what a place like Qadeem Stories can mean for the people who walk through its door.

How you can support Qadeem Stories

Qadeem Stories will be built by the community it is for, and that includes you. There are several ways to be part of it, and every one of them matters.

• Buy a piece. 5% of every sale on Qadeem Crafts goes to Qadeem Stories, so every carpet, kilim or cushion you buy here helps build it.
• Give directly. If you would like to contribute to Qadeem Stories itself, get in touch and we will tell you how.
• Help us find the space. If you know of a room or a building that is easy for people to reach and could become a workshop, tell us.
• Give equipment or materials. Tufting guns, frames and yarn now; carpet-making equipment and wool as we grow. Anything a new maker can learn with is welcome.
• Teach. If you have a craft to pass on, we would love you to lead a session.
• Share this story. Follow @qadeemcrafts on Instagram, where we will announce the first session, and send this to someone who makes beautiful things.