Silk Tie Rag Rug

Owen's neckties are all skinned out and strung up like so many animal pelts ready to be dried, sold to the fur buyer and fashioned into a fur coat. (That is the single most similar experience I can conjure up from my six decades of doing strange things.) Bear skin rugs, I've seen, but making a rag rug out of silk ties - that's different.

And, it's going to be unique rug, too.

As we started working with the ties, it became obvious that the wonderful Polyester ties of old just are not working - way too stiff and bulky (at least compared to the luxurious silk). So, our bundle of tie/rag critter pelts is now reduced by nearly half. Since we're getting a little less than one inch of rug per tie, it's going to be a pretty short rug unless we set our traps and catch some more ties. I think they might be nesting down at the goodwill store. ;-)

Warp On!

The Ideal loom is warped, with a little help from my friends. Of course, Elliott stops by just as we're finishing up...

There was a suggestion, after seeing how great the newly warped loom looked, that we just leave it alone, forget about weaving Owen's silly necktie rug - put the loom on display as artful museum decor.

It is pretty, but weave we must.

Dr. Jim kept tension on the warp threads as we wound them on. Being a horse person, it looks like he may have had some experience driving a carriage with 4-in hand.

Don't you just love the way the red & black play together.

And, for my next trick...

One of the regulars at the Museum has an extensive collection of old neck ties that he would like woven into a "rag" rug (seems like making a sows ear out of a silk purse to me, but whatever). After mulling this over for several months now I decided that the unusual nature of the raw materials, required unusual warp materials and weaving techniques.

Red and black pearle cotton is being threaded so that it can be woven with a "log cabin" technique - one side of the rug will be predominately red, the other side black - a reversible rug with as much sheen on the warp as the ties it's made of.

Off to the Gift Shop

All finished and looking for a new home. We had a good crew of Museum Quality Weavers last week - fringes tied off, hand-woven labels sewn on.... But wait, there's more!