One of my favorite things about my rug line is that these pieces are made with so much rich history and tradition. Each individual collection is crafted using a different technique. Recently some of my friends at Loloi took a trip to the small villages in India where some of my collections are made, and I was stunned seeing how beautiful the tradition of rug making is!
This video and their beautiful photos really opened my eyes to how intricate of a process this is. Each rug is made using time honored techniques that date back thousands of years. For these artisans, these rugs are their livelihood and a preservation of a proud legacy. These people learned this trade from their parents, and when their children are of age, they’ll teach them. Without these people, all of the beautiful rug designs would just be ideas—these are the people who are bringing them to life.
One of the most interesting things I learned was that each rug can take weeks to finish, and it is completely normal to work a full day and only get a few square inches of rug finished. This is almost unbelievable to me. These artisans are so patient and are in no hurry to rush the process.
Yarn
Prepping yarn is the very first step in making every rug. The process begins when the artisans receive completely raw bundles of natural fiber. The fibers are carded and then hand spun. They then feed the fiber into a drive wheel, which is controlled with their feet. This method takes years of repetition to completely master.
Dyeing
Artisans use bamboo sticks or metal rods to dip fiber into boiling vats of dye and rotate to evenly coat every strand. This is harder than it seems, because every last color has to turn out to be the perfect uniform shade. They then hang the yarn to dry it in the sun.
These photos and stories were shared with me at a perfect time! My rug collections are available at magnolia.com, as well as at retailers nationwide, and seeing this gave me fresh perspective entering this season. I love that these rugs are more than just home decor pieces—they're a way of life for the artisans living and working in these communities. I couldn’t wait to share this trip with all of you, and I hope you loved it as much as I did!
