Hand-Loom Weaving: A Manual for School and Home

by Mattie Phipps Todd

Fringe for a rug in red and black

Fringe

Threading the needle

Making the fringe into tassels

Removing the fringe from the loom

The head piece of the loom should be adjusted for the width of the rug for which the fringe is required. A rug nine inches wide would require fringe nine inches long. Adjust the rods one inch apart—that is, with one perforation between the rods. String the warp in every groove, one string over each rod and three between, making five in all. Weave over and under one until the heading is finished. If you have an extra side rod, place it in the sixth perforation from the right-hand rod. This will make tassels a little over two inches long. If a shorter fringe is preferred, adjust accordingly. If you have not an extra side rod remove the left one and place as directed, leaving the right one in the heading until the whole fringe is finished. Thread a large tape needle with two pieces of worsted, as long as the two can be conveniently managed. If the fringe is made of two colors, take one of each for the tassels, weaving the heading with the one which predominates in the rug. Run the ends in the grooves to fasten them. Wind under the right rod, which was left in the heading, through the first stitch, which includes the warp string over the rod, then over the extra rod to the right. Wind under again through the next stitch in the heading (always around the rod) and so on until the end is reached. To make this fringe into tassels, separate six strands of each color and tie with the two colors, running the tape needle and worsted along from one tassel to another, or tie each one securely and cut. The fringe will need no finishing at the ends. Run the short ends, which were wound through the grooves in the beginning in order to fasten them, through a few stitches in the heading. The fringe can be made of one color, and of any width. To take the fringe from the loom, first remove the rod at the end of the tassels and cut the fringe before removing the rods from the heading. This will insure straight cutting at the ends of the tassels. If one prefers a knotted fringe, cut and knot before removing the heading. By examining rug fringes in the furniture stores one can get a very good idea of the manner of knotting. (See also directions for splicing Germantown wool on page 84.)

Knotting

A simple fringe can be knotted quickly and easily in the ends of the warp strings, after the rug is taken from the loom. First decide upon the length of the fringe when finished. Add at least two inches to allow for knotting. Cut each piece of wool twice this length, double, and thread a tape needle. Pass the needle from the right side of the rug to the wrong, through the warp strings at the end of the rug. Draw the loop of wool through and unthread the needle. Pass the two ends of the wool down through the loop and draw it tight. When this has been done in every pair of warp strings, knot every other piece of the fringe together, in the same way that towel fringe is made.

This question of whether a rug should have fringe or not is much discussed at present. It is largely a personal one. The best way, perhaps, is to study different kinds of rugs and know which ones are usually made with fringe and which are not.