Handwoven Rugs - Types Of Weave In A Handmade Rug

Handmade or handwoven rugs are such beautiful and attractive pieces of floor coverings. These floor rugs are woven using any one of three different techniques, or weaves. The three weaves or techniques are the pile weave or hand knotted, flat weave and hand tufted.

Pile Weave or Hand Knotted

Most of the handwoven rugs use this pile weave technique, where the rug is woven by tying knots. These rugs are often referred as hand knotted rugs. Normally the weft thread or a short yarn is tied around two warp strands, thus creating a knot on the surface of the rug. Once a whole row of knots is done, either one or more rows of weft threads are passed through the warp. Then the weaver will use a comb or a beater to secure the weft and the knots in place.

There are two different types of knots that are usually employed for these area rugs, depending on which region the rug is from. The first knot type is the Persian knot. This is mostly found in handmade rugs from Iran, Tibet, Nepal, China, India and Afghanistan. The Persian knot is also referred to as the Senneth knot. It is a fine knot that is mostly used for complex patterns. The second knot type is the Turkish knot. It is found in handmade rugs from Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Sometimes, the Turkish knot is also called the Ghiordes knot or the double knot. It is a bulky knot which can produce a richer plusher pile.

Hand knotting is a laborious and painstaking process of rug making. It is time consuming, and may take several months or even years for a weaver to complete a whole rug. This is why this type of rug is sold at a high price.

Flat Weave

When the handwoven rug is made without using any knots, it is called the flat weave technique. The foundation is made up of the warp strands, while the weft strands are used as the foundation of the rug as well as for creating patterns on the rug. So if it is a rug woven without tying any knots, it means that the weft threads are simply passed through the warp strands. This is a method that is largely used in kilims, soumaks and brocades. As the weaving is done without tying any knots, the surface of the rug is flat, thus the name flat weave.

Many of us are familiar with kilims, as they are the most popular type of flat woven rugs. In weaving a kilim, the weft strands create the colorful patterns that you see on the rug. This means that the weft strands are not continuously woven from one end of the rug to the other; rather the weft strands are passed through several warp strands and then loop back around when a new colored weft strand is needed in the rug pattern. These rugs take less time to weave and may cost less than rugs made using the pile weave.

The soumak is a flat weaving method used for generations. In this method, the wefts are passed over either two or four warp threads and then go back under one or two warp threads. In the case of the brocade, the rug is made on top of the rug foundation. This means that together with the required warp and weft, additional weft threads are added to create the colorful patterns. These additional weft strands are added continuously or discontinuously, and are added to the warp and weft that already exist.

Hand Tufted

There are also many rugs that are hand tufted. This method also does not use any hand tied knots. Rather, hand tufting is done by pushing wool or acrylic yarn through a primary backing, thus creating tufts through the rug. The yarn is pushed through the backing using a tufting gun. After this, strong latex glue is applied to hold all the tufts in place. Then a secondary foundation or a scrim is applied, followed by the final backing cloth. Finally the looped tufts are sheared or cut to create the pile. The amount of pile cut off will determine the height of the pile.

Hand tufted rugs are much easier to produce compared to the hand knotted rugs. It also takes up less time to produce one rug. Because of this, these rugs are sold at a more affordable price compared to the hand knotted rugs.

Handmade rugs are great items to own in the home, as they can provide you with exquisite beauty and loveliness that is incomparable.