RUG MAKING MADE EASY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17230, 22 December 1923, Page 7 (Supplement)

RUG MAKING MADE EASY.

The work of making rugs, which is R hobby 1 olio wed by many women just now, lias been greatly facilitated by some new methods which have been recently introduced. Canvas in sizes suitable for mats and rugs can now bo bought with designs painted on it and ! the work prepared in the same way j t,hat- it is foi the lino Queen Anne can- I vas work, the whole of the design being i covered with long, horizontal stitches 1 m the correct colouring. A KNOT STITCH. All that is needed is to work over these lines with u knot stitch that leaves a loop projecting on the right Bide. As the work is completed these loops are cut. This is called Smyrna work, and the prepared canvas comes from the Continent. All-over Oriental designs are used for the most part, i which give the effect of broken colour, ; But these Rttle patterns would he ! troublesome to do if the work were j done from a coloured diagram in the j ordinary way and all the stitches had j to be counted. Another new kind of work of a ! similar character takes the form of rugs resembling modern Axminstei rugs, the canvas having the design stencilled on n in colour ready to work, though it is not necessary to follow the exact colouring of the sten cil unless it happens to go with the room. Quite simple floral designs are used for these mats and rugs. Often there ia just a trail of flowers a? ranged in an oval, and then the background is filled in with a plain colour to go with the carpet A small dress ing-table mat is good to make a start on, and would be useful for saving the wear of a carpet just in front of the dressing-table. The ready stencilled canvas only costs 3s lid, and it takes about two pounds of wool to make a mat of this, size With the pattern ready marked this is very quick and fascinating work, and easy to do by artificial light in the long winter evenings. An or- ; dinary wool needle is used and double j knitting wool. There are other ways in which timesaving has been effected in the making of rugs. There is, for instance, a special needle which does the work very quickly, almost like a machine needle, though it is manipulated b\ hand. TO SAVE TIME. There is also a new idea for an adjustment that caii be fitted to any land or treadle sewing machine, by means of which a rug can be made in an incredibly short space of time. In this case ordinary hessian is used for