Occasionally at our Wednesday Arts Cafè we discover that there is something that we’d all like to have a go at. After watching the recent BBC Four series MAKE Craft Britain, making rag rugs,specifically Hooky Rugs, was one such thing! Every region has it’s own variation in the rag rug. Here in the North East, we have two traditional types – the Clippy rug, where short scraps of fabric are doubled over, pulled through a hessian backing and knotted, and the Hooky rug, where a long length of scrap fabric is pulled up multiple times through the hessian backing to form looks with a big, oversized hook. Hence the name.
I ordered myself a hook and some hessian from a wonderful family company in Cornwall, http://www.makings.co.uk who send out useful instruction leaflets with their hooks! My thinking was that if I could do it, then it would be easy to show those interested in the Arts Cafè. And I was amazed at just how easy it was! Here is my finished chair pad…
This week at the Arts Cafè, now that more hooks had arrived, several people had a go at Hooky rugs, a thing they’d wanted to do for years but never had the chance before. One of our members, Tegan, documented the whole process in her blog, A Sky Full Of Stories. Definitely worth a read!
Darlington Community Arts Café 