1 66 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
it is impractical except in the case of blue, where the 
quantity of dye made is so large that one can have an 
even color in dyeing a large quantity. I find that the 4-8 
weight of warp is not heavy enough to give the rug a very 
light appearance, as it sinks into the cloth and the rug 
possesses the color value of the weft rather than the warp. 
LOOMS. 
We have a wide range to choose from among the looms 
of to-day. They can be purchased as high as $75.00 if 
the modern steel ones are preferred, but as the old wood- 
en looms make just as good a rug, this expense seems 
unnecessary. Many an old loom can be picked up in a 
country junk shop or at country fairs, and often an adver- 
tisement in a city paper will bring you in touch with 
possessors of looms who are willing to sell them for from 
$5-oo to $25.00. 
A very handy table loom can be bought from Lynn, 
Mass., and is called the Woodbury loom, and this can be 
used if narrow rugs can be utilized. This costs $12.00, 
but of course the $12.00 size could only be used for stair 
carpet width or portieres and bath rugs. Possibly they 
can be bought in larger sizes, but the work is not so quick- 
ly done on them as on an old fashioned treadle loom, 
which makes a rug a yard wide, or any narrower width 
desired. In buying a loom it is important to know what 
it should consist of as if an odd piece is missing, it might 
be quite expensive to have it made. 
A T loom consists of a frame, a beam, heddles, a lay, 
a reed, several shuttles, and a wheel for winding the 
material usually goes with the loom. In buying one 
secondhand it is very important that all and every piece 
should be examined by a practical weaver before the 
purchase is made. 
PREPARING LOOM FOR WEAVING. 
The beaming of the warp is rather a difficult process 
and wherever possible should be done by a beamer. 
After the beam is placed in the loom the warp threads are 
thrown from the beam over the back cross bars, and 
threaded through the heddles, then through the reed, 
and over the front cross bar of the loom, where it is at- 
tached by an iron bar and rolled under the front cross bar. 
The heddles are arranged in two frames which are on two 
different horizontal planes when the shuttle is thrown 
through the warp. 
PROCESS OF WEAVING. 
Having divided the material up into strips and 
wound it in balls, it must then be wound off the balls on to 
an iron rod, which is attached to a wheel, a small quantity 
is wound which, after having been removed from the iron 
bar, is ready for the shuttle. After pulling the end of the 
material through the hole in the shuttle, it is now ready 
for weaving. A seat must be placed in front of the loom 
at the right height for having a good command of the 
work. 
The left treadle must be pushed down with the foot 
which will cause a gap between the two layers of warp. 
Take the shuttle in the right hand and throw it between 
the warps, holding with the left hand that part of the 
loom which contains the reed; this is called the lay. Leave 
a couple of inches of the material sticking out at the side 
of the rug, this must be turned back and lapped round the 
warp at the side of the rug. After the shot has been 
thrown, pull the lay forward, and press the right foot down, 
releasing the left, which will make a reverse gap between 
the two lays of warp. The shuttle is now placed in the 
left hand and is thrown from left to right between the 
warps, after which the lay is pulled forward as before. 
This simple process is repeated over and over again, until 
the shuttle is empty. When the new shuttlefull is added 
do not sew the two strips together, but cut each end 
into a tapered point and overlap them. This join will 
then be invisible, which cannot be said of work which 
has been sewn together. 
The first four or five inches of a rug is always the same 
as the center. Plain bands of contrasting color can be 
used about a couple of inches wide. An uneven number 
looks better than an even. A 3x5 rug could have three 
stripes for borders, while a 3x7 would need five. The 
rug is finished off at either end with a half inch heading 
of warp, which keeps it from fraying. In starting the 
rug this must be done before the material is woven and 
when the rug is completed it is finished off with the warp. 
It is not usual to take the rugs out of the loom until the set 
we have in hand are completed. Sometimes as many as 
fifty rugs can be on the roll underneath. About twelve 
inches of warp must be left between each rug. 
It is a little hard to weave from only reading a des- 
cription, and a beginner will comprehend it much more 
readily by having a weaver show her how to use the loom. 
Half an hour spent in working under the guidance of some- 
one who knows is worth a great deal in simplifying weav- 
ing. Like everything else it is very easy when you know 
how, but it is very bewildering at first, as one is apt to 
press the wrong treadle and throw at the wrong side 
unless one has had experience. After the rudiments are 
mastered it rests with each worker to become a good weaver. 
DESIGNING THE BORDERS. 
While the plain bands of color are very pleasing for 
borders, there are several ways of introducing attrac- 
tive variations. Twists, or crow's feet are done by tightly 
twisting two contrasting colors together. These are 
wound on to a ball as if they were one piece, and shots 
of this are run across the center of a border or used to out- 
line it. The crow's foot effect consists of two rows of 
