How to make a Hand-Knotted Persian Rug

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4.12.09

How to make a Hand-Knotted Persian Rug

 
Have you ever wanted to make a Persian Rug?
Me neither!... at least not up until now. :o) An art teacher from Paces (Parent and Child Educational Services http://www.pacesinfo.org/), who knew I was interested in ethnic textile arts, told me that the one form of ethnic textile art no one ever does is Persian rug making. When I found out from researching Persian rug selling companies on the internet, that the authentic hand-knotted rugs take about an hour per inch to make by the best weavers, I thought...well no wonder!What crazy person would make a floor size rug at the rate of an hour per inch!!?? Well, as you probably know, if you know me at all...I am exactly that type of crazy. Except that I'm not about to make a floor size rug. I have some sanity after all. :o)
Well, I spent the next week and a half trying to figure out, via the web, how in the world you did such a thing. There was lots of info on weaving, but only poor resolution videos from companies who sell Persian or Turkish rugs of various Indian, Oriental, African, and Middle eastern men and women tying rugs at blinding speeds. It's rather difficult to figure this out by trying to watch moving blocks of poor grade movie when they won't even show a close up of their hands! I did find a drawing of a piece of yarn tied in a "persian knot" and a "turkish knot". This was info provided to customers to help them verify that their $2,000.00 (4'x9') to $10,000.00 (floor size) rug is actually authentic and quality.
Well, trying to learn Persian knot-tied rug making, is a lot like trying to learn how to make cheese, by first discovering you need to learn how to raise cows. I have a diagram of a knot and blurry video. So what to do first? Well the video shows them tying colored pieces of string on a floor loom. Occasionally they weave string back and forth, bang it with a comb, and then tie knot after knot, but I can't see how, though I can see sticks with 4-5 colors of yarn spooled on them dangling over their heads and it looks like they are using one of the spindles of yarn to tie the knots.

Well before I can even begin to try to figure out the little diagram of a turkish knot and how to tie it while leaving one end attached to the skein of yarn, I've got to learn how to weave. No problem of course!
And gee, where do I get a loom from? Oh my, well...there they are and boy are they expensive. Next question, do looms for weaving work the same way as a loom for making carpet? What is a shuttle anyway, or a heddle stick...warp?? weft?? If you can believe it, after nine days of sporadic searching in the wee hours, I did finally figure out how to make a homemade loom, from a picture frame of all things. My first efforts were a mess, but there are websites that teach how to do this on a small scale with minimal expense (my kind of art!!) though it took me a very long time to winnow them out of the mass of info out there! This evening, I'll upload links and step by step pictures (all 24 of them) for every part of this process from making the loom, to warping it, making or buying cheap tools (several from one 3' long ruler!).

I've even done some videos. I started with a 11 x 14" frame and have begun a nicer 26 x 24" frame. I'm in heaven!! This is oh so much fun, though I'm just learning the basics. My attempts at actual design are quite abstract at the moment. My diamonds look more like smudge lines, but the back looks pretty nice!

I hope you enjoy this learning process along with me.... with God's help and a big dose of 'can do attitude', I hope to learn this ancient art and actually produce something resembling a turkish rug (1-2 square feet of it) in time for next year's art show. I sure hope it works, but I'm having a blast learning how to do it.

Happy Persian rug making!!

7 comments

Eve said...

Brilliant, and I found you straight away,Thanks! Eve.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you posted this!!! I have been researching how to make knotted rugs and like you, have had the same difficulty finding a video where the knotting isn't done at warp speed! Your blog post really helps. I have been learning how to tapestry weave and how to do Navajo weaving, in between sewing, knitting and crochet!!! But I want a project that takes time and where I can play with a limited supply of dyes I live in Luxor in Egypt and it is difficult to find the right tools and stuff here! So I have to make everything myself. But it keeps me occupied in the long, hot summer months!
So thanks once again!

Unknown said...

your rug looks really good but i have to say that you do little mistake in every row when you finish you have to first very firmly push every row down then cut your row not every 2 or 3 rows and again and for a little help don't do it with your fingers do it with a crochet hook it really helps i say it with my own experience have fun !! :D

Judy said...

I enjoyed your post a great deal, although I don't know how soon I will try to make my rug. I'll bookmark this page for now.
As well as I enjoyed your post, I enjoyed the comments people left. Looks like you have received response from around the world. How great is that? Just wanted to add my name to the list (Plano, TX USA) and thank you again.

Unknown said...

I am so glad I came across this. I just ordered some yarns and tools so I can start rug hooking but i would much rather do this type of rug making. I have been quilting, knitting and crocheting and learning it all on my own but this is more right up my alley. Nice job pist pictures when you get more done would love to see progress! Happy rug making!

The Desert Echo said...

So excited to find this! There isn't much diy rug making out there, a lot of weaving though. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for putting the effort in demonstration of how to make a Persian Rug - this is great, something I have been trying to find. Thank you so much!!! Awesome in making your own weaving board, very inspirational!

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