Introductions

Hi! I am a beginning weaver. I have a 16" Ashford rigid heddle loom and am also learning backstrap weaving. I come to weaving from spinning, which I came to from knitting.

I have been interested in rug making for a long time because I thought it might be a good way to recycle old clothes. I considered several methods but didn't like the ones that required me to cut the clothes up and then sew them back together before using them to make something. I also wanted a method that was easy on the hands. I think I'd like weaving rag rugs but I'm not sure if I can do it on the equipment I have. Maybe I could build a Navajo-style loom ?? Any suggestions welcome.

Cindy

Glad to find this group on Weavolution! I have been weaving all sorts of things for about four years and have quite a loom collection as a result. I picked up about 16 pounds of selvages or 'worms' from the Pendleton Woolen Mills Outlet in Portland, OR, and am collecting the info on how to get started.

Denise

Hi - I've been weaving for about 3 years all total. Started out doing tapestry weaving. I am just now collecting material for rag rugs. I recently acquired an 8 shaft Kessenich loom and am looking forward to doing some rag rugs. There's a wool twill rug on the loom right now, so rags will have to wait till I'm finished with that one.

DJ

Hey Denise,

I also bought some Pendleton selvedges and am anxious to learn how to weave with them. I did see an article a while ago suggesting either a carpet warp, threaded double for extra strength or wool rug yarn for a warp. I think the wool rug yarn might shrink and have used carpet warp for many projects and really trust it for a rug.

As for the clothes, I am definitely not cutting them to sew them together to weave them. My plan was to spiral cut the t-shirts and use them at about 1/2" thick for weft. I also have towels I am planning on using for a bathroom rug.

My question is, can I wind ONE warp for all these different projects? the bathroom rug, the t-shirt rug and the Pendleton selvedges rug? I could use black carpet warp doubled for all three.

Claudia, looking for ideas and help

I'm here too.  Thanks for starting this group.  I wanted to learn to weave so I could weave rugs.  I have tons and tons of jeans strips that I wanted to make into rugs.

Peggy in Utah

Hi Peggy,

I feel like we are old friends, we seem to have many of the same interests.  I have wanted to weave with jeans also but can't get our 4 sons to give up any of their jeans <g> I keep asking and they all say no. When they were teenagers, and I wasn't weaving yet, they seemed to grow tired of or just give up their jeans almost daily. I remember arguing with one child that 6 pairs of jeans was more than I ever owned at one time. To no avail of course.

I am hoping we find someone who has used jeans to weave with and can give us some hints. For instance, how do you cut the legs? Remove the seams to use separately then just cut them in 1/2" strips?

Claudia

I fee the same way Claudia......kindred spirits.  

Oh... You'll love this.  I cut the hems off of the bottom of the leg.  Then make a slit up each side of one of the seams....inner or outter seams.  Then just pull that bad boy up the seams.  What's nice about this is that you get straight edges.....a lot of fray, but the weave was straight on the jeans,... it rips straight.  Then slit for another strip....I guess at about 1 to 1 1/2 inches because of the fray.  By the time you clean them up you may only have a 1 inch strip.  You only get about 4 strips per front and back of the legs, but I was told that you only need about 7 pair of jeans to make a rug .  Of course mine are super sized so I get more strips.   Skinny little you may need more jeans.  Oh....I'm so excited....I've wanted to do this for so long now.  I have some red warp that I was going to try with the jeans, and some old flannel shirts that I was going to use as well, too add character to the rug.

Peggy in Utah

 Hi Claudia and Peg.. and other rag rug weavers:

I've been weaving for over 30 years and at one time I owned 2 Union Rug Looms.  They were wonderful very functional 2 shaft looms with a heavy beater and the ability to crank up the tension so that the 8/4 Maysville carpet warp could almost sing like guitar strings.  I loved weaving on those looms and created many, many rugs (from roomsized stitched together to small mats) and bags and wall-hangings.  I gave the 36" one to a friend and sold my favorite 42" one before we moved south.  With my arthritis I was afraid of beating the way you need to, to get a really firm rug, so I decided I needed to find her a new home

I used mill end fabric from Woolrich Woolen Mill as the weft.  Wool creates such a resilient durable rug.  It's great.  I'm sure the Pendleton will be similar.  

Even though I'm not weaving with rags any longer... my heart is still there.  There's something really satisfying about creating something beautiful and useful from waste material.

I look forward to seeing what you all do and am happy to answer any technical questions.

Suzy

HI Everyone! I just found this group, and I too have always been interested in rag rug weaving, even though i have not yet done any. I'm not even sure whether my loom collection would stand up to a full sized rag rug, but I prefer my projects on the smaller side, so that may not be a problem. I have been collecting co-coordinating fabrics to start playing to see what happens.

What would be the best warp to use? I can get seine cotton warp thread in various weights, and have heard that it has a bit of give to it.  Linen warp thread is also available here in Oz,  otherwise I will have to start looking  to buy some overseas. I also need to find a tapestry beater, so thats given me an excuse to go shopping, ;-)!

Caroline:

You could use the cotton or linen.  The most common here in the US is 8/4 Maysville cotton carpet warp which is very strong.  That's what I used for 25 years and found it to be long-lasting and sturdy.  Your seine cotton warp may be similar.

Have fun with it!

Suzy

I've been weaving off & on for long enough that I don't remember how long it's been.

I mostly weave garment fabrics, but I've done the occasional rag rug.  I started with rag rugs because of the cost of wool.  I really wanted to weave knotted wool ones, but I doubt I'll ever do it.

I used sheeting selvages that I got from Great Northern Weaving.  I cut them with a rag cutter into narrow strips.  That way I could combine them for different colors & weights.

Claudia, do you have a Goodwill store, or something similar near you?  My local Goodwill has racks of jeans.  The large sizes cost the same as the small ones, though I haven't checked the price of jeans.  Goodwill even has a loyalty card.  It gives you 5% off a $20 purchase.

I'm so glad you started this group. I'm glad it's specific to rag rugs, and not the myriad of other rug weaving.

Weaving rag rugs is one of my favorite things to weave. Maybe because they're fast, forgiving and fun! Rarely do you weave a rag rug and not find a useful purpose for it.

Early in my weaving life, i wove quite a few, but hurt my elbows from beating so hard. I sold my Kessenich and didn't weave rag rugs for a couple years. I now have a loom that i like to use and it doesn't hurt my elbows! I weave rag rugs on a Glimakra Ideal. I like the overhead beater to help absorb the shock of beating and i have the stadigs to stabilize the loom as well. I just picked up a free Newcomb Studio that once, i get the rust off it, i'll see how i like it for rag rugs.

I had a nice gig earlier this year. A room size rag rug for The Henry Ford Museum's Greenfield Village. If you go to my website, and click on the big picture on the home page, you'll see some of my steps in the process.

Look forward to meeting other rag rug makers! i'll post some pics soon.

Mary

http://www.villageweaver.com

if you click on the big image on the first page, it will take you to a little gallery to show the steps in making this room size rug.

That's quite an honor to weave for a museum!  That's on our list of places we want to see.  I really want to see the Jacquard loom.

Wow, Mary, what an honor and what an amazing history of rag rugs you have had.

I would love to have and Glimakra for weaving anything on. My dream loom, however, is the Rio Grande loom that Weaving Southwest sells. I would love to be able to stand and weave. I would really like to weave tapestry on a floor loom too. I had the chance to try it out this summer and enjoyed it now end. I have a really bad back and have had several surgeries. Standing to weave would be the answer for me. Here is my dream loom.

Mary, please give us the link to your website.

Claudia

great photos!  thank you so much for sharing the process. 

I love the use of the warping wheel and the skein winder to control the skeins.  Was that giving you a visual to check your color order?  I usually cut my strips and roll them into balls.  But they've usually been analagous color .... I've never worked in the kind of color palette you had at hand with all those beautiful stacks of color.....hmmmmmmm

What is that dumbbell thingie that looks like it is stuck on your quilt cutting guide that allows you to lean and cut strips?  I WANT ONE!  I can't say how many times or what kind of words I used when my plastic ruler slipped.  I love my cutting board, plastic ruler and roll cutter but .... A new gizmo....yes!

Congrats on the final project, it is beautiful.  Deb 

Hi Deb,

I use the umbrella swifts to control the sewn weft from tangling, and then put them back on a swift, to wind on to a shuttle when i'm ready to weave. It's a tad faster than winding a ball! The handle on my cutter is from a quilt store. They are about 20 bucks. I've seen similar products As Seen on TV for people to help them up out of the bath tub.! So if you don't have a quilt supply near by, i'll bet your hardware store will have them!

Thanks for the kind words. It was a great opportunity to be part of that project!

Mary

Ha, the key search word is suction bath safety bar!  That will hold my plastic ruler in place nicely....yahooooo for $14.00 I can cut straight strips.  Thanks for the photo! 

Just learned about this forum this morning and immediately joined.  I've been weaving rag rugs since 1986 and have not stopped since. 

My rug looms are two Union #36 and a 60" Varpapuu CM (12 harness).  I also have two four harness Nilus LeClerc's, a 36" and a 45", but they aren't as good for rugs.

I mainly weave with actual rags, which I wash, cut apart and sort for color.  I have a big electric cutter that has really saved my hands and shoulders, but I still sometimes use a regular rotary cutter and pad.

Had never thought of using a swift to keep the sewn weft from tangling.  Now it seems so obvious, thanks for a great tip Mary.

Dana, in northern Californa, where it is still foggy this afternoon.

Hi Dana,

So glad you found us. We need lots of experienced weavers to help us newbies along.

Claudia, Co-founder Weavolution

Hi Caroline,

Since you have the seine twine available in Australia, I would suggest that you use it.  We supply it here in the US and I use it for weaving my rugs.  Seine twine is made for making fish nets, so it has to be very, very strong.  Your weft will wear out before the warp will.  Years ago I tried the 8/4 cotton rug warp available here in the US, but I found that if I wove a rug for the kitchen, it only lasted about a year before the warp threads started to break, usually right where I stand at the sink.

Because seine twine is so strong, you do not need to double it.  So, in those cases, the seine twine is less expensive than the cheaper rug warp.  I usually sett it at 6 or 8 per inch so that the weft colors will show nicely.  It can also be used at 4 or 5 per inch.  8/4 cotton rug warp is usually used at 12 per inch because it is not as strong.  Another reason for it to be used at 12 per inch is so that it becomes more dominant in the look of the rug.   At 12, it is getting close to a warp faced rug.  This is helpful if you have an odd assortment of colors in the rags.  The warp colors sett close together help to unify the colors in the rug.

Since you can also get linen rug warp, I recommend the 8/5 size for most rugs and the finer sizes, 8/4, 8/3 and 16/3 for small rugs and tapestries.  We also supply linen warp, which is traditionally used for weaving rugs with wool fabric for weft. 

Joanne

I'm a self taught rug maker.  I originally was a denim blanket maker who couldn't bring herself to throw away the denim pieces that were stained.  These I cut into strips, sewed together, balled and saved until I had a big stash.  At that point the search started to find someone who had a loom to get them made into rugs.  Each time I had accumulated enough to send away, I found my previous weaver had passed on.  It was literally a dying craft in my area!

I started to watch for a loom.  I found one at an estate auction sale only 4 miles from my home.  I bought a Union 2 harness (antique) and amazingly the original instruction book was with it.

From that book, and alot of head scratching, I figured it out.  I'm am at heart very frugal  (the ex called me cheap) so all my weft is "found" materials.  I use denim - just spread the word about needing jeans and they appear!  I use sheets, curtains, towels, chenille blankets, etc.  Anything textile that is given to me, along with materials bought at salvation army stores, garage sales, and thrift shops -- as long as it is cheap.

Still learning by doing...

Where can I find Pendleton worms?