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In Bursa's Orhaneli district, retired teacher Aliye Zorlu decorates homes and generates income from a hobby that combines bottle gourds she grows herself with recycled materials.
The 58-year-old Zorlu, who was born and raised in the rural Deliballilar neighborhood of the district, worked for a time as an embroidery teacher. She later trained as a preschool teacher and retired after 23 years of teaching at the kindergarten level.
After retiring, Zorlu began looking for a hobby and started growing bottle gourds during this period. Zorlu makes lamps out of the bottle gourds she grows and also creates decorative gift items using recycled materials she collects.
Zorlu, who has turned her hobby into an income source by selling what she produces, said that she is trying to carry forgotten traditions into the future.
Noting that she has essentially redecorated her home with old items, Zorlu said, "This is a very old house, and everything in my home is old. I love giving away new things and getting old ones in return. Old items carry a sense of history. These side tables, the armchair I'm sitting on are all very old."
''I'll give away a new TV stand just to get an old one. I've always collected the carpets on that wall from old items because they carry beautiful memories and history. These things are very special and beautiful to me," she added.
Zorlu explained that she makes many kinds of products, including woven baskets, trays made from silk cocoons, bridal flowers, decorative gourds and serving plates.
Noting that she repurposed lace from a discarded cloth into a necklace, Zorlu said, "It makes me happy. It carries history. Perhaps it belonged to someone's grandmother; who knows what this lace has seen. It was going to be thrown away, but now it adorns me as a necklace and makes me more beautiful."
Noting that she designs the patterns improvisationally and that some designs take a long time to complete, Zorlu continued, "It depends on the gourd's pattern and the carving technique. For example, I once carved a portrait of Ataturk. That took me a month.''
''We draw the pattern first. After drawing the pattern, I do the wood-burning, then the drilling. Then you add lighting and attach the beads. That one took me a month. Of course, I don't sit working on it every day until evening. I have other things to do too," the retired teacher stated.
Zorlu said she learned the craft by taking a course and then continued developing it further on her own. "Because I do it out of love, it doesn't feel difficult to me. My hobby has become something like a job now. At the same time, I'm slowly earning money from it too. I love it, and that's why I do this work," she said.
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