from Art and economy in home decoration by Mabel Tuke Priestman, 1910

PULLED rugs that are made by craftworkers today bear little resemblance to the hideous pulled rugs of previous generations. In olden days, the cat, dog, and cow vied with each other for supremacy for ornamenting these ugly but durable floor coverings. Today, however, they are made with broad masses of colour and a simple arrangement of line and form, making effective and artistic rugs. Indian, Mexican, Japanese, and Oriental motifs are all utilized for these rugs, and every now and then glorious masses of colour worked out in savage ornament delight the eye, particularly of those found among the Pacific Islanders, or the Navajo Indians.

Pulled rugs are made of various materials, each group of workers having special reasons for the materials they use. The Abnakee rugs are made of all-wool unbleached flannel twill, which is afterwards dyed the desired shade. These are among the most beautiful and durable of the rugs, their weight and beauty of colour making them a valued possession which will last a lifetime.

The Sabatos rug is another form of pulled rug, and is made of native wool homespun yarn, giving opportunity to women in isolated regions, not only to make the rugs, but to weave the material from which they are made. The sheep are raised by the farmers, and their wives weave the material and dye the wool for the craft-workers who make the rugs.

The foundation of the Sabatos rug is woven in a hand-loom from pure wool. It is then fastened securely into a wooden frame, and short pieces of the vegetable-dyed yarn are drawn through and separately knotted like those made in the Orient. This knotting of the yarn increases the durability of the rugs, but renders the making of them slow and laborious.

Rugs made of flannel are pulled through a good quality of burlap, making a raised surface, which, combined with beautiful colouring and a good design, makes a serviceable and artistic rug.

THE HOOK

The necessaries for making pulled rugs are not many, the material, the frame, and the hook being the only requisites. The best hook is about 5 inches long, and can be made out of a 4O-penny nail about a quarter of an inch thick, filed and smoothed into shape at the end, and is given a slight curve which enables the user to hold the hook horizontally and yet allows the point to pierce the burlap vertically. These hooks, with the frame, can be supplied by dealers who sell burlap patterns for the hooked rugs. The patterns sold by dealers are extremely garish, however, and are only used by country people who have not yet been influenced by the late development in this industry.

THE FRAME

It is best to use a light adjustable frame. It should be made of soft wood consisting of four pieces, two of them 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick and 4 feet long, with a row of half-inch auger holes bored equal distances about 3 inches apart down the centre of each piece, at either end. The two cross-pieces should be 17 inches long, with a fixed peg an inch and a half from each end. The strips for the holes can then be adjusted to suit the size of the rug.

Any carpenter could make such a frame. An unadjustable one can be made of any old frame about the house, or even the frame for an artist’s canvas could be utilized.

THE MATERIAL

If flannel is to be used to make the rug, a soft wool flannel weighing about 3 1/2 ounces to the yard should be provided. As wool flannel cannot generally be obtained in suitable colourings, it is best to get them in white and dye them the required shade.

THE CUTTING

After the material is dyed, it is cut into straight narrow strips an inch and a quarter in width and the length of the material. It is best to have each strip about a yard in length. By folding a yard in four, the scissors will only have to go over the length of a quarter of a yard. The strips must be evenly and neatly cut, the distances being marked on paper which is laid underneath the flannel. A piece of elastic with a nail at either end of the cloth will ensure the cutting of a straight strip if the cutter-out has not a straight eye.

MARKING OUT THE DESIGN

Having made or bought a good design for the hooked rug, it should be transferred to the burlap by means of a stencil. Lay the burlap as smoothly as possible upon a table, and place the stencil on it so that the edge will follow the straight line thread of the burlap. Secure it firmly to the table by means of thumb tacks. Liquid blueing may be applied to the burlap through the stencil with a round stencil-brush or a nail-brush. It is not necessary to indicate all the colours which will eventually appear in the rug.

At least 4 inches must be allowed outside the design when stamped, in order that it may be put into the frame. This extra burlap is afterwards folded and turned under when the rug is finished, and sewn in a neat hem on the under side.

Having placed the burlap firmly and neatly in the frame, the hooking of the flannel is the next process. Take the end of the strip of cloth with the left hand, holding it between the thumb and first finger. Hold the end close to the burlap under the frame where the work is to be started, usually at the right hand lower corner.

Take the hook in the right hand, push it through the burlap, and catch the end of the strip, bringing it through the burlap about three-eighths of an inch. Then push the hook through about two threads and bring up a loop of equal length, continuing to bring up loops until the strip is all used. The end of it must be brought up to the surface of the rug.

A most important point to remember is that the flannel on the under side must be kept close to the burlap and have no loops at all.

It will be seen by these directions how extremely simple the process of rug-hooking actually is, and yet there are few crafts where greater differences can be seen in the workmanship than in pulled rugs. There is quite a knack in pulling the loops up so as not to catch the burlap with the hook. One short quick movement of the whole arm, not of the hand, is required. This movement is upward and slightly backward.

The loops need not of necessity be of equal height, in that they are more artistic if slightly uneven. When the rug is completed the high ones are clipped and the short ones left between. The clipped pieces vary slightly, giving a soft velvety surface infinitely superior to the old-fashioned hooked rugs, which had straight rows of loops all of uniform height.

Care must be taken to bring the loops up at different angles, but avoid symmetry. It is best for a beginner to work from right to left, but a good craftsman finally gains complete mastery over materials, and can work rapidly up or down, or from left to right.

As each frameful is filled and clipped, the burlap is moved, keeping the edges true and the corners square until the whole rug is finished. If a large rug is made, work the centre first, and then the border.

AMOUNT OF MATERIALS TO USE

It is always difficult to determine how much material to prepare, as this is varied by the height of the pile. A good Abnakee rug takes one yard and a half of flannel for each square foot of rug. It is impossible to say definitely how long the work takes to do, as one woman can do twice as much as another in the same length of time. A skilled worker can make a rug 4 feet by 8 feet in fifty-four hours.

DYEING

Where it is possible, it is best to use good vegetable dyes, but as these are very hard to obtain, there are numerous other dyes which can be used, all of which necessitate a careful following of the directions given with them. Wool materials can be dyed with a dye intended for cotton, and vice versa. An even colour in dyeing should not be aimed at, as a pretty shaded effect is preferable ; this is given by the flannel varying somewhat in shade. Water can be added to the second dye bath ; the cloth immersed in this will be a paler shade than that in the first dye bath. I

It is well, therefore, to mix the strips so as not to get all pale in one, and all dark in the other part of the rug. While wool flannel makes much more beautiful and durable rugs, cotton flannel is not to be despised, and artistic rugs can be made from it. It can also be obtained in good colours – the old rose, green, and delft blue all being beautiful in the Shaker flannels.