Rug making

Woman passing ashuttlethrough thewarpon aloom.

A rug is a piece of cloth, similar to acarpet,but it does not span the width of a room and is not attached to the floor. It is generally used as afloor covering,or as a decorative feature.

Braided

Braided rugsare made by using three or more strips of fabric, usuallywool,folding the raw edges to the middle and braiding them together. For an oval rug the centre braid should be one inch longer than the width-length in feet. example 2' x 4' rug centre strip would be 2'2 "long. The centre braid is laced together and new strips are sewn on to make the braid longer as lacing continues.

Hooking

A latch hook for rugmaking.

Traditionalrug hookingis a craft in which rugs are made by pulling loops ofyarnorfabricthrough a stiff woven base such asburlap,linen,rug warp or monks cloth. The loops are pulled through the backing material by using a latch hook mounted in a handle (usually wood) for leverage.

Rag rugs

Main article:Rag rug

Rag rug constructed from T-shirts and bed linen

Rag rugs were commonly made in households up to the middle of the 20th century by using odd scraps of fabric on a background of old sacking. Rag rugs became widespread during theIndustrial Revolutionto the nineteenth century, but by the 1920s the craft was dying out except in areas of poverty or where tradition had a stronger hold. The necessity for thrift duringWorld War IIbrought a brief revival, but it did not last long.

Prodded

Proddy rugs are made, as the name implies, by prodding or poking strips of fabric through hessian or linen from the back side. Rag rugs made this way have many names, such as clippies, stobbies, clippers and peggies.InNorthumberlandthey are called proggy mats, and inScotlandthey are calledclootiemats. They were often made for more utilitarian use such as by the back door, their pile hiding dirt well.

TheMuseum of English Rural Lifehas a collection of rug-making tools and thrift rugs.

Woven

Cushion embroiders at the shop in Yelizavetpol governorate,Russian Empire(nowGanja,Azerbaijan). Late 19th century.

These are both handmade and machine-made (seecarpet). Woven rugs include both flat rugs (for examplekilims) andpile rugs.The more tightly a rug is woven or knotted, the more detailed a design can be. "It is generally believed that the density of knots, the age, the material, and the rarity of the design or knots determines the value of a carpet...."

See also

• Afghan carpet
• Armenian carpet
• Azerbaijani carpet weaving
• Flooring
• Gabbeh
• Heatsetting
• Knot density
• Oriental rugs
• Tapestry
• Moroccan rugs