My background was a navy coat That Dad had worn for years This beautiful woolen fabric To cut it up, brought tears
There was Mother's coat of red Another one of green By today's high fashion They were definitely "has been"
Sister donated a jacket A skirt from Auntie Mame To discard these fine materials 'Would surely be a shame
A few onion skins were added To sparkle and shade each one So now we are again reborn To serve for years to come
From an old 'RUG HOOKER NEWS AND VIEWS' magazine from April 1980, a poem written by Stella Hughes of Port Colborne, Ontario
Materials
fabric backing or canvas
wooden loom
nails or staples
rug hook (ordinary crochet hook with a wooden handle)
Rug hooks can be purchased or made at home. Simply hammer a nail into a piece of wood and remove the nail head. File the end of the nail into a hook, then whittle the wooden handle to fit your hand.
Roots
The Purpose of Rugs Throughout the 19th century, rugs were primarily utilitarian objects that covered floorboards and helped insulate poorly heated houses. While wealthier families could afford Oriental rugs or carpets woven on domestic looms, most households covered their floors with rag rugs or hooked rugs.
The earliest rugs used potato or grain sacks as backing. This cheap, popular source of canvas was widely available, durable, and easily handled. Gunnysacks, initially imported from India to England in the 1820s, were introduced into North America in mid-century and their use quickly became widespread.
To make rugs, artists unsewed the seams of gunnysacks and stretched the resulting canvas on a home-made loom. Some hooked without using a loom, supporting the work on their knees.
Patterns
As an alternative to drawing patterns freehand, domestic hookers traced them using a piece of charcoal with paper or cardboard guides. Different designs could be combined in one pattern. By collecting a number of designs, women could obtain a vast array of patterns and allow their imaginations free rein.
Around 1868, canvases with printed patterns became commercially available. Several businesses started selling patterns, and catalogues began to appear at the end of the century. The availability of patterns made it possible to create more elaborate designs, but these rugs were also less imaginative and more structured.