Rugs are often interchanged with carpets. Although given that there is a wide range of designs to choose from, unlike wall-to-wall carpets that area permanently attached, rugs don’t only serve as a kind of flooring but it can also be a decorative additions to dull walls inside a home. So how is it really made?
Rug making is a prehistoric art and craft that would probably not go out of date. It goes way back and evolves through time. It is a skill that was involves a lot of techniques and procedures. It may seem challenging for one to do but considering that it was established back in the days where there is not much technology and machines to help people with their everyday lives, people have found a way to make it less difficult. So what are these techniques that were used during the ancient times and are still being used until today?
Rug-hooking has been around for at least two centuries. In ancient times, it was a craft most commonly done by people experiencing scarcity: Poor communities. And since that is so, they would often search their homes for scrap materials to be used, usually snippets of used fabrics. And while women from rich families where enrolled in schools teaching quilting and embroidery, deprived women would use whatever materials they found accessible to make their own home-made floor coverings. Customary hooking of rugs is a process involving loops of fabric, specifically wool, being pulled all the way through a backing material. This technique is identified as Traditional rug hooking. It uses a tool similar to a crochet hook that is mounted in a wood handle for support.
On the other hand braiding is a technique that is most familiar and probably common to ones ears. The process starts from the center working its way out until the desired size of the rug is achieved. Similar to braiding your child’s hair, this technique most often uses three or more strips of cloths or fabrics but can also be possible using thick yarns, sewing the braids together to keep it intact. Braided rugs are most commonly elliptical than rectangular in shape.
The word Crochet is derived from the French word croc that means a hook. Crocheted rugs are made of thick fabrics or threads using a sizeable hook. Just like the traditional rug hooking, the process of crocheting involves loops being pulled but this time instead of pulling through a backing material the fabrics are being pulled through other loops which is very similar to knitting. Crocheting isn’t just for area rugs. In fact, in early times it is considered a livelihood by most families creating garments and mantles.
Braiding, Crocheting, and Hooking are just some techniques in the art of rug-making. There are more others like needle-punching, and weaving that area used in the process. Each technique requires tools and materials that are probably similar to one another. How ever hard rug-making is, one thing is for sure. It requires a special skill that if one does not possess; he or she will not succeed in this field: PATIENCE.