Hand woven wool rug is a design from woven fabric, while the basic technique of weaving is relatively simple, it is in the variety and appropriateness of patterns and weaves that the potentialities of the craft are to be found. These include plain weave and derivatives, twills, weaves based on plain cloth, overshot and allied weaves and color weave.
The design of natural woven rugs will depend on the fabric, color, pattern and texture. Color can be inherent in the materials employed, or can be dyed. Texture is partly that of the material and partly the texture of the weave. The simplest and often the most effective texture results from the use of fancy yarns or yarns of different thicknesses in a plain weave or variation. This gives tremendous scope for experiment in woven throw rugs, even on the simplest looms, but with a four shaft loom this can be developed further by using weaves which themselves have interesting texture, such as honeycomb, mock leno, the twills and the satins.
So now you are ready to begin weaving your hand woven cotton rugs, the experience will be rewarding. You have either made the non-adjustable frame loom or perhaps a simple adjustable loom from scaffolding. Or you may have purchased a vertical two-frame loom. You have dressed the loom and prepared the weft. We will now look at how to achieve the different patterns for your woven vinyl rugs on your loom.
Prepare the heading
The heading is the name given to the band of weaving which lies between the fringe and the main part of the loom woven rag rug. It varies in depth between one and half inch and four inches, depending on the design of the rug — shorter if the woven sisal rug has a flat surface, like the flat woven rugs, and longer if it is tufted. The heading has a dual purpose — to set the warp threads into position and make a firm base to weave against.
The heading for the machine woven rugs is usually woven using the same yarn as for the warp and this helps to soften the visual effect of the rug edge between the wilton woven rugs and the fringe.
Put a stick — a spare shed stick will do — through the shed made by the leashes and push it firmly into position against the bottom bar on the loom when making the leather woven rug, to spread the warp correctly. This must be done or there will be warp wastage because of the gaps caused by the groups of tied warp threads.
Tie the stick to the bottom bar to stop the warp slipping. If a loom with a continuous warp is being used, this tie will have to be adjusted when the weaving of the hand woven wool rug is wound on later, and then retied.