How our rugs are made

Part Two: Design and Weave

Here is where the rug's style is first conceived, in the minds of craftsmen and artists who scale designs on paper. These are later used like a map for the weaver.

Handknotted wool rugs are woven on two different types of looms, in two different settings, as seen below.

Most wooden looms reside in rural villages or cottage homes, whereas modern steel looms can be found filling large factories. In these workshops, weavers are paid by each square foot completed.

The rug is now woven! But not quite finished...

Native handwashing and stretching is an important step that accomplishes many things:

• Removes all dirt, impurities and excess dye.
• Preshrinks the rugs and sets their colors.
• "Blocking" or stretching the rug removes wrinkles and allows the rug to lay perfectly flat.

The finishing touch to a rug is the shearing. This process crops the wool threads to a constant length.
Again, both rural and modern techniques can be used. This high volume micro-shearer gives a nice uniform surface.

The same result is also achieved through traditional hand shearing.

They will come to rest in a fine home, where their beauty and craftsmanship are appreciated for decades to come.

Finally, the rugs are readied for transport. They are carefully packaged for a long voyage west by sea or air.

We hope you have enjoyed this documentary.

If you would like to learn more about the art and history of Oriental and Persian area rugs please take a look at our book list or glossary.

The following table shows the time it takes to make these beautiful hand-made rugs and not the machine-made rugs.

Return to Part One