FLATWEAVE

The construction of a flatwoven rug happens on a hand constructed horizontal loom. This type of loom hasn’t changed much since its origin; the first documentation of a loom presents itself on the side of a flat bowl from 400 BC which was found in Central Egypt (now located in University College, London).

Once the frame is constructed, cotton warp yarns are carefully threaded vertically, this takes quite some time to ensure the correct tension to create a high quality weave.

The raw materials are then sent to the Dye Master and their team, who will at first test small batches to match the colours of the poms we have selected in London. Using a recipe book, built over years of practice, the dye master assesses the balance of colour, taking into consideration factors such as temperature to make the perfect match. 

After the materials have been dyed, washed and dried, the hanks of material are then spun into balls. These balls are then colour coded before being sent to the loom so the weaver can match the correct colours to the graph.

Working horizontally in rows, the weaver will read the graph laid on top of the loom and weave the design line-by-line using a shuttle. A shuttle is a carved wooden tool that the weaver uses to thread the wool yarns between the vertical cotton warp yarns on the loom.

A weaving comb is used to pack the woven yarns together to ensure that there’s an even density to the rug. After the entire rug has been woven, the cotton warp is cut and the rug is rolled off the loom to undergo the next part of the process.

After the rug is woven, the work of tidying up any joints in alternating colours in the design is done with meticulous attention to detail. A needle helps direct any loose threads in the right direction for a seamless finish. The edges are also hand bound using a needle and wool to make a tidy and cohesive outline to the rug.

Once the flatweave has been quality checked it is packaged and shipped to London or directly to its new home.