Origin Of Rag Rugs

Traditionally rag rugs were made using old clothing that had reached the end of its life old woollen.
Origin of rag rugs. In other cases the same common name meant one type of rug in one place and a completely different sort of rug in another place. Compounding the regional differences in trying to determine the history of rag rugs is the astonishing array of names. The online etymology dictionary states that the term carpet was first used in english in the late 13th century with the meaning coarse cloth and by the mid 14th century tablecloth or bedspread. A rag rug is a small carpet made of old pieces of cloth stitched or woven together.
Braided rugs are made by using three or more strips of fabric usually wool folding the raw edges to the middle and braiding them together. The necessity for thrift during world war ii brought a brief revival and interest in the craft grew again in the 1980s. Rag rugs are a historically notable and widespread form of hooked rug making. However by the 1920s the craft was dying out as it was associated with hard times.
In the north west of england for example rag rugs were put on beds to ward off the cold and in the north east old wooden clothes pegs were filed down to rag rug with hence the name peggy mats. The term carpet comes from old french carpite one derivation of the term states that the french term came from the old italian carpita from the verb carpire meaning to pluck. Rag rugs or rag mats are hardwearing rugs made out of rags cut into strips and pushed or pulled through a hessian backing. Caroline had slaved for days to create it katie porter age 6 sits on a rag rug at anne s feet in a party dress and red stockings the floor was wooden with a simple rag rug there was a small window but the walls were bare.
As if that weren t. The history of rag rugs. Some types of rugs have a dozen different names by which they were called. Although vintage and antique rag rugs are highly decorative and charming they were originally made purely for utilitarian purposes.
Hessian is a strong and coarse fabric made from jute or hemp. Rag rugs are typically made by pushing small strips of fabric often recycled through a base material made usually of hessian or wool. There are two kinds of mat known in the north east as hooky and proggy mats. Example 2 x 4 rug centre.
Well it was a rag rug but it had been made with consistent colors so it looked pretty. The tradition of making rag or thrift rugs became widespread during the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century.