Fiber Art
Rug Hooking Design: Patterns from Nature
Course Overview
Rug hooking is a textile craft, born out of necessity and the desire to bring beauty and warmth into the home. In this class, we will use the natural surroundings of the North Shore landscape to design a rug that is uniquely your own. We will go for walks to see the patterns of the lake’s waves, the tree bark, the swirls in agates. Please bring old, worn-out clothing to cut up and use, but we will also be visiting the thrift store to see what fabric we might find there. The end product of this class will be a personally designed rug that can hang on a wall, decorate a table, or warm up the floor. This class is for the beginning to advanced rug hooker who would like to use their personal color palette and their sketches to design a rug that is uniquely their own. The rug can be as simple as a single star or as complicated as a menagerie of animals or a North Shore landscape. Students will be shown how to use some more advanced hooking techniques and learn many of the ways that a rug can be finished. However, the focus of this workshop is for you to find your own symbology, your own colorway, your own rug designs. Come with ideas, and be ready to explore the North Shore.
Required Tools
- Small scissors.
- Instructor will have some wool for purchase, but it would be great if you could bring used clothing, preferably wool flannel (like a Pendleton shirt or skirt), but even t-shirts or yarn can work well.
- Pencils and sketchbook would be nice.
- If you have your own rug-hooking equipment—frame, cutter, hook, etc.—please bring that. Otherwise, it will be provided.