GinaWe are excited to have our special guest coming to Tulsa to teach a class on the art of Rug Hooking.  Gina Levesque, Across Generations, will teach you how to make beautiful creations using wool strips and a canvas. Cost is $70.00 and covers personal instruction and kit.

 

Class is set for Saturday, July 22nd, at 1:00 pm. Seating is limited, so call to sign up today at 918-481-1055 before we run out of room…

Below is the kit that she is bringing to teach the class:

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She will also bring other kits she has designed for you to purchase.  Kits are approximately $45.00 each and contain the canvas, instruction and strips of wool.

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History of Rug Hooking:

The history of rug hooking goes back to the earliest forebears of hooked rugs were the floor mats made in Yorkshire, England during the early part of the 19th century. Weaving mill workers were allowed to collect thrums, pieces of yarn less than 9 inches. There were taken home as they were useless to the mill and the people would then pull them through a backing material to make a rug.

Another source believes that the Vikings, whose families probably brought it to Scotland, also used the technique of hooking woolen loops through a base fabric. Examples of this method are found at the Fold Museum in Guernsey, Channel Islands of early rag rugs. Other examples were produced off the coast of France as well.

Rug hooking as we know it today may have developed in North America, specifically along the Eastern Seaboard, both in the United States and Canada.  It was considered a craft of poverty. Rug makers used whatever materials were available. By 1850 antique rugs were hooked on burlap, as burlap was free if you used old grain / feed bags. All scraps of fiber were used. In United States yarn was too precious and had to be saved for weaving or knitting, so the tradition of using scraps of fabric evolved.  The first rugs were made out of any scrap material that could be found, including worn clothing and old discarded wool blankets.

Rugs were used on the floors in the summer and on the beds in the winter. The rugs when used on the floor were put loop side down for every day wear and flipped when company came. This would keep the rug cleaner.

As time passed, people began selling hand-hooked rugs.  By the 1940’s, rug hooking had become a well-established hobby in the United States and Canada. Hand-hooked rugs can be found in art galleries and museums in throughout the world.

 

 

 

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