Handmade Rugs
Hand made rugs have a long history dating back hundreds of years. Today, hand made rugs possess some characteristics of their ancient counterparts yet there are also some differences. We will explain the differences now.
Hand made area rugs come in various styles. The styles are Persian rugs, Modern and Contemporary rugs, Transitional rugs, Children's rugs, Tribal rugs and Shag rugs. These rugs can be made in various ways.
Hand knotted
Area rugs that are hand knotted are made on a loom. In most countires, this loom is made out of wood and cotton is tied around the loom from top to bottom and this is called the foundation of the rug or warp. The warp is what supports the entire rug as the material for the pile of the rug is hand knotted around this foundation. Once the warp is in place, weavers proceed to hand knot each piece of material, let's say wool in this case, around the foundation. Weavers work from left to right going up a loom. The finer the knot, the longer it takes to make a rug.
The design may be sketched on the foundation or, with more experienced weavers, the design may be just on a graph to the side of the loom as can be seen in the picture to the right. This weaver has enough experience to know when to stop and change the design and colors being used in order to continue with the rug. Please remember that for each color/design change within the rug, the weavers need to stop and change colors of wool. This can be very time consuming. A hand knotted area rug is the most time consuming type of rug to make since each piece of wool is literally hand knotted around the foundation.
After several rows of knots, the weavers then pack down the wool with a curved metal instrument. This causes the pile to lay at an angle and is the reason for hand knotted rugs to have a light and dark side. When looking at a rug, one side will appear lighter than the other. The light side is running with the pile of the rug and the dark side is when we look against the pile, where the tips of the wool are darker then the rest of the wool.
Hand woven
Hand woven rugs are made in a similar fashion to hand knotted except that instead of knotting each piece of wool around the foundation, the weavers loop it under and back around. Although not as strong as hand knotted rugs, hand woven rugs still pass the test of time. These types of rugs take less time to make since the time to knot each piece of wool is not a factor.
Hand tufted
Perhaps the fastest way to make a hand made rug is by hand tufting. Tufting refers to a process where wool is injected into a canvas with a tufting gun. Once complete, this entire rug is then adhered to another canvas, usually with latex. Although not nearly as durable and long lasting as a hand knotted or hand woven rug, hand tufted rugs are a good alternative to machine made rugs as they are practical and much less expensive than the other types of hand made rugs.
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| Woman weaving on loom |
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| Weaver on flat loom |
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