They are ALL crooked!

by Rug Chick

Here’s a secret for you… ALL handmade rugs are crooked. Some may aim for perfection, but it’s very hard to achieve when hand crafting anything.

Have you ever written in a journal, set it down then picked it up to write again? When you go back you can see slight variations in your handwriting. The slant is a little off. Maybe you were more attentive and sharp, and other times sleepy – and the words showed those variations.

Weaving is not much different. Rugs are woven over months, sometimes years, and larger rug by more than one weaver – so there are variations that show up on the rug. Like this:

When you inspect a hand woven rug you need to expect to find variations in the width and length of the rug. It is to be expected. It is part of the rug’s “personality” – just like one of your feet is a bit bigger than the other one (go ahead, check).

But, if you clean a rug and place it down in the opposite direction, and the rug looks different to the client, they may feel that you’ve done something to shrink or stretch their rug.

It’s best to explain the variations up front, not as flaws but as characteristics. Again, if you point it out BEFORE the wash it’s EDUCATION – you point it out after the wash it’s an EXCUSE.

All rugs are crooked. Nothing wrong with that! 🙂

– Lisa