It is a great mistake to think that all cast off clothing can be woven into handsome rugs or portières. True it is possible to weave them, but it is almost a hopeless task to get artistic effects from old coats or a lot of dark articles.
The modern rug weavers get a few yards of cheap muslin in two or three shades and make a rug that can be sold for two or three dollars. Silk is not like old woollen materials, it can be utilized to the last thread because it is soft and works to good advantage.
Two old silk petticoats will make two pillow tops that are artistic as well as useful. One of the most beautiful examples of silk weaving was a cushion I saw made from two old silk petticoats; one was sage green and the other Delft blue. The strips were about one inch wide. All the worn parts were cut out. No piece was considered too small to use.
Every pattern of rug has a name given it by the weaver. The most common pattern is the hit-and-miss. The name aptly describes it. There are never two hit-and-miss patterns that are exactly alike. To look at a collection of hit-and-miss rugs one is reminded of the Croton shrub which has no two leaves alike. As children, we used to call them Match-me-if-you-can trees.
A hit-and-miss pattern is a good one to learn on.
Do not weave first one green strip then one blue and so on, because you will get a jumble of blue that is neither interesting nor pleasing. Decide on which colour you would like for the background, then use most of that shade.
I have heard an old weaver say that when she works the hit-and-miss pattern she will carry first one stripe of the background the entire way across and probably start the second row. A little strip of the second colour is then used and then the background again. The good worker never cuts her strips all the same length but strives to get the effect of little slashes of colour against a solid background. A rug made of medium blue and white rags suggests the sea with white caps on it.
When an Indian weaves a rug, he sits on the floor and weaves, till he has to stand to work.
Tapestry is woven almost the same as described for rugs; instead of the loom having a bridge that has to be moved by hand to regulate the threads, a treadle is used.