Weaving a rug

“Take a weaving class” has always been on my Retirement To-Do list, and recently I discovered a sustainable weaving studio near my house that offers “Intro to Rug Weaving” classes. The studio is called Ex Materia and it’s run by two amazing women, Su and Anneli. You can do the course over two sessions, but I opted for the “weave a rug in a single day” option. I went in this past Tuesday, and to my delight I was the only student there that day!

Su introduced me to the floor looms, all of which had been brought over from Finland. They had given me a choice of a few different rug patterns ahead of time, and of course I picked the most complicated one. I also got to choose my colours. The material is actually strips of jersey left over from making t-shirts and other clothing, and it comes on big cones. Su showed me how to wind my shuttles and then start weaving. It took me a while to get the rhythm down, but pretty soon I was flying! I think my knitting experience also helped, as I knew how to count rows and keep my selvedges neat.

The goal was to finish my 70cm rug by 4pm so I’d have time for them to show me how to take it off the loom and finish it. I took a quick lunch break and then went right back to it. It’s rather addictive, seeing the pattern form! I modified the pattern a little bit (mostly because I miscounted and then liked how it looked), and overall the process went really smoothly. By 3pm I was ready to take it off the loom! Su showed me how she weaves a couple rows with the warp threads and then with some spare jersey to stabilise everything, and then I helped her as we cut and tied off the warp threads. And then it was time for the big moment…

Once it was off the loom, we took it over to a work table where Su showed me how to remove the stabiliser sections and knot the warp threads. Then I had a decision to make: what kind of finish did I want? I could leave the warp threads as fringe, or I could weave them into the finished rug to hide them. I opted for the latter, as it would give a cleaner look. Anneli gave me a quick lesson on how to do it.

It turns out that weaving in the ends actually look longer than weaving the rug! I spent many hours over several evenings plugging away at it.

Finally tonight I finished it! Then I put it into place in front of the French doors in the dining room.

Pretty cool! I had a lot of fun, learned heaps, and ended up with a sustainable handwoven rug that, quite frankly, blows away any cheap one I could buy from a shop. Now I just need to figure out how to fit a floor loom into my house.

Thanks again to Su and Annali for their expertise (and patience)! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Ex Materia’s course to anyone looking to learn a new craft. I found weaving really engaged my whole brain and my body, and I have a newfound appreciation for the skill that goes into creating textiles and the engineering that makes it possible.