Among other domestic crafts, weaving held one of the primary places among the Kyrgyz in the past. The development of capitalist relations, which gradually dismantled the foundations of the natural economy, brought about several changes in domestic weaving. In the lively trade of various types of fabrics, both from Central Asian handicrafts and Russian industrial production, observed in the Fergana Valley in the late 19th century, Kyrgyz fabrics made at home also had a certain presence. However, purchased fabrics increasingly penetrated the everyday life of the southern Kyrgyz, primarily displacing fabrics for clothing from domestic production. Nevertheless, domestic weaving continued to exist and served some family needs, especially in household items, as well as in various products used to decorate the yurt. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, it still occupied a significant place in the economic life of the Kyrgyz.
The main fiber for weaving was wool, but some Kyrgyz living in cotton-growing areas (mainly in the Aravan and Osh regions) began to engage in weaving based on cotton cultivation at the end of the 19th century, using more advanced looms employed by the settled artisans around them—Uzbeks and Tajiks. Unlike them, women worked on these looms, producing white and striped fabrics from which clothing was sewn. However, a large portion of the output went to the market. Yet, these more productive weaving techniques did not develop among the Kyrgyz primarily because cotton cultivation had not yet been sufficiently mastered, and the raw material (cotton) had to be purchased. It could not develop also because Kyrgyz cotton fabrics produced at home could not compete with the fabrics produced by the local settled population. An even more important reason, as noted above, was that quality and inexpensive factory-produced fabrics quickly displaced handicraft fabrics at that time.
In the primitive weaving techniques that have survived to this day, age-old traditions and skills remain unchanged. Every elderly woman can be called a custodian of these traditions.
The process of working in domestic weaving is quite labor-intensive. However, the greatest labor and time costs are required for preparing the yarn. In rural areas, a woman engaged in preparing yarn with an archaic spindle in her hands can be seen at any time of the year. While performing various household tasks at home (looking after livestock, watching over children), she often spins on the go.
The spindle (iyik) in southern Kyrgyzstan differs somewhat from the spindle used by northern Kyrgyz. With the same shape (a sharpened wooden stick (30-35 cm) with a gradually tapering end on one side and a blunt second end), the spindle of southern Kyrgyz has a groove in the form of a spirally curved channel (burma), in which the thread is held during spinning. The spindle used by northern Kyrgyz does not have such a channel. The thread is held by a thin stick threaded through a hole.
Above the groove is the whorl (iyik bash), made of clay or stone, often in a flattened shape. The spun thread is wound around it. The process of spinning wool on the spindle is called jun iyiruu. From the spindle, the threads are wound into large balls (turmek). For each type of weaving, the yarn is prepared specifically, always taking into account its intended use.
Cotton threads were spun on a homemade simple loom (charch), which, as is known, was widely used among the settled population of Central Asia, as well as in Xinjiang and India. In some places, it has survived among the Kyrgyz, although it has already disappeared from regular use for about half a century. Spinning on it is familiar to older Kyrgyz women.