Glossary of Rug Terms #22
Every so often, we write a rug term dictionary post for those wanting to improve their handmade rug vernacular.
Whether you are an expert on decorative rugs or reading about the field for the first time, you will find these terms very informative!
backstrap loom- A narrow loom in which the weight of the weaver provides tension for the warps by means of a strap attached to the breast bean that passes around the weavers back. The warp beam is tied to some stable object. The backstrap loom is used in Tibet, Nepal and Central America.
balanced plain weave- a plain weave (the simplest interlacing of warp and weft) in which warp and weft are of the same size, equally spaced and have the same count. both sides are structurally identical.
balanced twill weave- A float weave in which continuous wefts systematically skip warps and/or warps systematically skip wefts in a diagonal alignment and warp and weft counts are equal.
complementary elements- two or more sets of warps wefts or other elements of equal structural significance in a fabric.
darn- to mend or patch a hole or other damage to a textile. The stitches used do not reproduce the original structure.
design plate- a colored rug design drawn on graph paper. It usually shows one quarter of the rug. A row of color squares, on the plate show all the colors used in the rug. The design plate may be scaled up to actual size for a loom drawing from which weavers work. Color-matched yarn samples may be attached to the loom drawing.
double outlining- rugs in which two lines of contrasting color are used to outline and distinguish design elements from the ground or field.
field- the portion of a rug design enclosed by a border or the major portion of a rug without borders. The field may be unoccupied or contain medallions or an all-over pattern.
monofilament- a long, continuous single fiber or filament. A common feature of synthetic fibers, but only occurring naturally in silk fiber.
Source: The Oriental Rug Lexicon (Paperback) by Peter F. Stone
