CHAPTER XIII

PRISCILLA RUGS

As there is no limit to the beautiful effects which may be produced by the well-chosen color combination in the Priscilla rag rugs, and anyone who has an eye for color (which, by the way, may be cultivated) is sure of success.

There are many new inventions in hand-looms, yet the old cumbersome loom of our grandmother’s day is still to be found in the outlying districts of most towns and cities, and the weaving done on this is fully as satisfactory as that on the new looms. Almost every village has its rag-carpet weaver, and on his old-fashioned machine can be woven all that we want in this line.

First, there are the all-wool rugs for general use in the house, then mixed wool and cotton rugs for the piazza, all cotton for bedroom and bathroom, mixed cotton and silk and entire silk for portières and couch-covers, and for covers for sofa-pillows.

There are also rugs of heavy cotton, such as denim in its dull reds, blues, yellows, greens, and browns.

The size of a rug for general use is usually one yard wide by two yards long, the yard width being the limit of the ordinary loom. Smaller rugs are woven in different proportions: a runner for the hall is three-quarters of a yard wide and of any required length, and door-mats half a yard wide by one yard long. Squares for the centre of the room can be made by having two breadths woven exactly alike and then sewing them together.

You who possess a loom of even the clumsiest design have a field open before you full of interest, for freedom to experiment in pattern and manner of weaving will lead to continually new results and there will be increasing originality and beauty in your productions.

=Color Schemes for Rugs=

Collect all your available material, plan your combination of colors, and then decide whether it will be necessary to put some of the rags into the dye-pot. If you have a handsome vase in your room it is a pretty idea to take that for your keynote and reproduce its color in your rugs.

Solid colors are the best unless you wish to have part of your rug what is called “hit or miss.” For “hit or miss” any short pieces may be used and sewed together indiscriminately; then again, if you have a good deal of checked, plaid, or mingled material, it may be used by itself for centre or border. It is upon the solid colors, however, that you must principally rely, as there is less of the element of chance in their use, and your calculation as to the result of your color combination will be surer.

A favorite design is a “hit or miss,” or a solid-colored centre with striped ends. A more unconventional effect is produced by making the rug in stripes of unequal width and in daring color combinations; some of these latter are startlingly barbaric and artistic in appearance and are well adapted to studio use. Again, more harmonious effects are produced by using various tints and shades of one color. Very narrow stripes of black and of white often separate wide stripes of different colors, sometimes singly, sometimes together, and when used with discretion they give a certain decision and finish to the whole. You will naturally want to exercise your own taste and originality in designing your rugs, so a description of one all-wool rug will be amply sufficient as a guide.

This rug is one yard wide by two yards long. The centre is exactly one yard square and is of solid dark cardinal red. The two ends are precisely the same and the stripes of the border follow each other in this order: Next the centre comes a very narrow stripe of old gold, then one of the same width of white. These are made by putting the strips of color only once through the loom, or once across. After these comes a five-inch stripe of old blue, again the narrow yellow and white stripes followed by a two-inch stripe of moss green, a three-inch stripe of dull light blue, a five-inch stripe of light brown, a two-inch stripe of old blue, and next the fringe a one-inch stripe of dark cardinal red. The fringe is simply the warp allowed to extend beyond the rug about a quarter of a yard at each end.

Gray is a useful color in all-wool rugs and makes an effective centre for a bright-colored border.

=The Fire Rug=

is a beautiful blending of reds and yellows giving a flame color. The ends are dark red, and, by degrees, the red runs into orange, which, in turn, melts into dark yellow, growing gradually lighter until the centre of the rug is a pale, soft yellow.

Pale tones of yellows and greens are sometimes combined, also yellows and browns.

Before taking your rug to the loom tack on a piece of paper samples of the rags used in the order in which you wish them woven, and write opposite each sample the width the stripe is to be made, as shown in diagram. Give this to the weaver that no mistakes may be made by him in the placing of the colors.

=The Weight=

To calculate how much you will need of each color, remember that it requires about two pounds of woollen rags to the yard; therefore, if you want half a yard of one color, one pound will be required; for a quarter of a yard, one-half pound. Do not make your calculations too closely, with a little over-weight in each case no harm is done and it is better than falling short of the required amount. The narrow, or once-across, stripes require an inch or two over the yard for each stripe.

=How to Cut and Sew the Rags=

Cut your rags in strips one-half an inch wide unless the material is very thin or loosely woven, in which case make them wider; very heavy cloth should be even narrower than the half-inch. Cotton rags should be one inch wide. As the rags are pinched together when woven it is the thickness that counts, and the object is to keep them of an even bulk so that the rug may not have an uneven, lumpy surface. Perhaps you will be told by the weaver not to sew your rags too securely, for they cannot be jerked apart readily when it is necessary to break off one color to begin weaving the next; but do not act on such advice. You must sew the strips together with care so that the ends may not stand out and give a ragged look to the finished rug. The accompanying diagram shows the best manner of joining the pieces. You see that one piece is laid over the end of the other, then both are folded lengthwise and sewed securely in the fold. This gives smooth joints and an even surface.

Wind your different colors into balls, having, as a rule, one pound in each, and put them in a bag to send to the loom.

=Cotton and Wool Rugs=

For piazza rugs, or for summer cottage use, cotton may be mixed with the wool; indeed, some hold that it is unnecessary to have all-wool for any purpose, though the writer thinks differently. The temptation is great, however, to use the pretty bits of gingham and lawn left from summer gowns, and they do give a certain, if not lasting, brilliancy to the rug. That much of the cotton is apt to fade and grow shiny with use is of little consequence when the rugs are not subjected to hard and constant use. Rugs of this class should be as bright and gay as possible; the combination of even the crudest colors looks well on a vine-shaded piazza and in the gayly decked summer cottage.

=All-cotton Rugs=

For bedroom and bathroom all-cotton rugs are exceedingly pretty and appropriate, and when they are made of fast-colored material they may be washed with ease and kept always fresh and clean.

White should predominate in these washable rugs, and the best as well as the simplest effect is produced by combining it with but one other color. Indigo blue and turkey red are safe and useful colors; brown and green gingham also look well with the white. Of cotton rags allow one and one-half pounds to the yard. When you are in doubt as to the permanency of your colors soak the rug, before washing, in a strong solution of salt and water; this will “set” almost any color. These cotton rugs may be woven in alternate strips of color and white, or the white be used for the centre and the colors for the border, or the centre may have dashes of color through it as shown in diagram.

Bathroom rugs can be entirely of white or, towel-fashion, have a narrow colored strip at each end. Any white cotton may be used in these bathroom rugs, old being better for this purpose than new, as it is much softer.

=Warps and Fringe=

Gray linen is undoubtedly the best-wearing warp and harmonizes with all colors, therefore for all-wool rugs it is the best. It gives, of course, a gray fringe, but that is not undesirable. When a colored fringe is wanted the cotton warp will have to be used. This comes in red, blue, purple, yellow, and white. Use cotton warp for cotton rugs, and where the filling is largely white the warp should be white also. When red warp is used with white filling a pink tone is the result, while blue and purple with white filling produce a gray effect.

At each end of the rug the warp should be woven with self-filling to the depth of one inch. This makes a heading for the fringe and prevents the rag filling from ravelling. It is, in fact, a selvage. You may knot the fringe, using six strands to a knot, or plat it and then knot as in diagram, or it may be stitched at the top and left to flow freely.

=Dyeing the Cloth=

Those who make a business of manufacturing rag rugs scorn to use the dyes that come ready prepared and think it well worth the extra trouble to make their dyes themselves. So it is, perhaps, when one has plenty of time to devote to the work, but a girl’s life is so full of interests and occupation she generally chooses quick methods, though the results may not always be as lasting.

In case your heart yearns toward the old-fashioned process and you want to go into the work thoroughly, read the recipes given here and follow them carefully. They are taken from an old manuscript recipe-book, yellow with age and worn by use, which has descended to the writer from an ancestress famous for her good housekeeping and housewifely arts. The dye appears to have been prepared in large quantities, usually enough for sixteen pounds of wool, but you can easily regulate the proportion of the ingredients and make as much or as little as you want.

=Wool Dyes=

_Navy Blue._—"Boil in a sufficient quantity of water twelve ounces of copperas, three ounces of alum, one and one-half ounces of verdigris, one and one-half ounces of cream-tartar. Run[A] your cloth in it for four hours, then air. Empty out that liquor and fill up with clear water; add four and one-half pounds of logwood, boil it for one hour and a half, then add six ounces of madder and boil for half an hour, then run your cloth for half an hour. Air it (the cloth), then add six ounces of blue vitriol and three ounces of pearl-ash. Mix it well and run your cloth in it for twenty minutes, then air and rinse it.

Footnote A:

To “run” means to leave the cloth in the dye, moving and stirring it about occasionally that the dye may be evenly distributed.

_Silver Gray._—"On one pound of woollen: Take two ounces of sumac and three ounces of logwood and boil for one hour in four gallons of water, then add one-half ounce of cream-tartar. Put in your woollen for one hour, then take out and air. Refresh your dye with water and add one-half ounce of copperas, bring it to a boil and run your woollen for half an hour, then air, rinse, and dry it.

_Yellow._—"On woollen for one pound: Dissolve in four gallons of boiling water three ounces of alum and one ounce of cream-tartar, then run your cloth for one hour and a half at boiling heat. Take out, cool, and rinse, then boil one pound of fustic chips for five hours, run your cloth, while boiling, for one hour, then cool, rinse, and dry it.

_Madder Red._—"On one pound of woollen: Boil five gallons of water in a kettle, add three ounces of powdered alum and one ounce of cream-tartar, then run your woollen in it for two hours, rinse and air it. Put five gallons of fresh water in a kettle, add eight ounces of madder, mix it well and bring it to the boil, then run your woollen for one hour, but it must boil only five minutes. Take it out, air and rinse it. Add to the dye one-half pint of clear lime-water, then run your woollen for ten minutes, then take it out and rinse it immediately.

=Cotton Dyes=

_Brown._—"On cotton for five pounds: Bring eight gallons of water to the boil and add four ounces of pearl-ash, dip your yarn (or cloth) for half an hour and then wring out. Take twenty gallons of water and one bushel of maple or white-oak bark, boil it two hours, then take out the bark and strain the liquor and add one pound of copperas; stir it until it is dissolved and let your liquor cool to lukewarm. Dip your yarn for five minutes, wring and air it; dip again for fifteen minutes, wring and dip again until you have it dark enough.

_Purple._—“On cotton for two pounds: Boil four ounces of sumac in four gallons of water, then dip your yarn for half an hour; wring, air, and put it in again over night, then take out and wring. Boil in seven gallons of water one pound four ounces of logwood for one hour; take three gallons of the logwood liquor and dip your yarn in it for twenty minutes, then add three quarts of the logwood liquor and dip for twenty minutes, then put in the remainder and dip for twenty minutes, then wring out and dry your yarn.”

The wringing process given in the last two recipes is for cotton yarn; cotton cloth or woollen cloth should never be wrung out; simply lift it from the dye with two sticks, immerse it in clear cold water, if you are to rinse it, then hang it up and let it drip. All material must be perfectly clean and thoroughly soaked before being put in the dye.

_Note._—“In boiling, all drugs and barks that will not dissolve ought to be put in a thin, coarse bag and taken out before you dip, and the liquor should be settled. Dip only in clear liquor.”