Have you ever wondered how handmade rugs are made?
Rugs are an integral part of our homes, especially in the living room and bed room. A handmade rug brings life to any dull or boring interior.
While buying Bokhara handmade rugs on sale, you need to understand that the rug has been created with extreme hard work and dedication by some passionate craftspeople who have spent years perfecting their art.
In this article we will discuss the complete process involved in making a handmade rug at home from scratch - what material is used in making a handmade rug, how do people go about it today and why handmade rugs are better in quality than machine-made ones.
Weaving of Handmade Rugs
The complete process in making a handmade rug begins with the act of 'carding'. No, you don't need to pick up your cards and start playing with them, but yes, it is an important part of creating thread.
Carding helps in removing short fibers in the raw wool which is taken from sheep's skin after shearing or during molting season when shedding naturally.
The carder (a machine) gently pulls apart the fine bundles of fiber into soft wisps that can be mixed together for spinning later.
Spinning
The next step in making handmade rugs is known as 'spinning' which is done by hand or mechanically.
Spinning is the act of intertwining short fibers into a single, long strand. Once done with spinning, you can use organic wool to make a handmade rug in the next steps which include dying and weaving.
The Process of Dyeing Wool
You must have heard people talk about different colors in the wool before buying a handmade rug. The reason behind this color is because of the dyeing process which involves using natural dyes to add rich colors to thread or fabric.
In Bokhara handmade rugs, natural dyes are used for coloring threads from plant sources like leaves, bark etc.
Diaeresis obtained from certain trees and brazilwood tree's heartwood are popularly used as a source of natural dyes.
Dying process involves first preparing your loom by measuring the warp (lengthwise part of rug ) on the floor or ground on which it has to be woven.
A warping board is used for this purpose. All warp threads are pulled taut and tied securely at both ends.
Warp is divided into two sets of strings - one set for filling, which can be rolled up onto a beam, and the other for the warp, which is threaded through the harnesses on a loom to form the foundation for weaving.
Sometimes, metal salts like alum and tin are used for fixing the color to the wool while sometimes they dissolve or spread out in water and allow some or all of the fiber to absorb them.
Unlike synthetic chemicals like acid dyes and disperse dyes naturally provide brighter and more permanent shades and protect dyed wool from further treatments such as rubbing, boiling etc.
Drying Dyed Wool
After dyeing comes the drying process which is done on open racks by hanging them outdoors so that the sun's UV rays naturally bleach and fix color into fibers which prevents fading over time.
Warp threads are separated according to color dyeing sequence so that each color can be handled separately without mixing colors. Warps are passed through heddles which divide warp into two separate groups. These groups of threads are then passed through another heddle or harness.
Warps threaded in this manner form a base for weaving in which handmade rugs are made. The process is repeated with the threading of each color.
When all warps have been passed through heddles, the weft (known as woof in British English ) threads are woven between them using an implement called 'shuttle'.
Shuttle has two parts: one is blade and the other is barrel which carries woof thread. After passing the shuttle through the warp, blades open up space for the barrel to pass through easily
Hand Sewing Process
When the weaving process is over, the rug's fabric is cut into two strips with one containing all colored patterns and white background while the other one contains different colors but mostly white color.
A strong cloth like jute is used to join these two pieces together and thus handmade rugs are ready for this part of the process.
Now, all colored designs are cut from fabric containing colored patterns and likewise, designs made up of white color are cut from fabric containing white color background.
All these cuts are joined together to obtain one piece which is hand sewn at the back side using wool yarn.
This whole process done by hand makes handmade rugs more expensive in comparison with machine made rugs.
Hand Beating Process
Now handmade rug is almost ready but still it requires some finishing touches before using it in homes or offices for decoration purposes.
One more process of beating the dust out, washing and drying are needed to make sure that handmade rug is free from any harmful pest or dust particles. After this process, handmade rugs are ready to use.
Hand Handmade Rugs vs Machine Rugs
Handmade rugs are superior in quality, design and beauty. In handmade rugs, craftsmanship is seen from its making whereas machine made rugs follow a manufacturing approach for production which often involves mass production to cater the needs of emerging markets across the world.
But since the detail to attention is not paid, machine-spun yarn causes the pile to shed and unravel thus leading it to become flat and loose.
The durability of handmade rugs is for decades whereas machine made rugs need to be replaced after a few years due to quality issues.
They are also eco-friendly in nature as compared to machine made ones which creates pollution by emitting harmful chemicals in the atmosphere.
So, when you look for Bokhara handmade rugs on sale and think it's expensive, remember the complete process that goes into making one handmade Bokhara rug.
Hence, investing in handmade rugs is a more favorable option in comparison with machine made rugs.
