ade of carpeting require a much stronger warp than do ordinary
cotton or woolen rugs, and therefore a twine made of flax or hemp, if
it be of fast colour, will be found very serviceable. Some weavers
fringe the rags by pulling out side threads, and this gives an effect
of _nap_ to the woven rug which is very effective, for as the rag is
doubled in weaving the raveled ends of threads stand up on the
surface, making quite a furry appearance. I have a rug treated in
this way made from old green carpeting, woven with a red warp, which
presents so rich an appearance that it might easily be mistaken for a
far more costly one. It has, however, the weak point of having been
woven with the ordinary light-red warp of commerce, and is therefore
sure to lose colour. If the warp had been re-dyed by the weaver, with
"Turkey red," it would probably have held colour as long as it held
together.

This cutting of ingrain rags would seem to be a serious task, but
where weaving is a business instead of an amusement it is quite worth
while to buy a "cutting table" upon which the carpet is stretched and
cut with a knife. This table, with its machinery, can be bought
wherever looms and loom supplies are kept, at a cost of from seven to
eight dollars. If the strips are raveled at all, it should be at least
for a third of an inch, as otherwise the rug would possess simply a
rough and not a napped surface. If the strips are cut an inch in width
and raveled rather more than a third on each side, it still leaves
enough cloth to hold firmly in the weaving, but I have known one
industrious soul who raveled the strips until only a narrow third was
left down the middle of the strip, and this she found it necessary to
stitch with the sewing machine to prevent further raveling. I have
also known of the experiment of cutting the strips on the bias,
stitching along the centre and pulling the two edges until they were
completely ruffled. Although this is a painstaking process, it has
very tangible merits, as, in the first place, absolutely nothing of
the carpet is wasted--no threads are pulled out and thrown away as in
the other method--and in the next the sewings together are overhand
instead of lapped. The raveled waste can often be used as filling for
the ends of rugs if it is wound as it is pulled from the carpet rags.
Indeed, one can hardly afford to waste such good material.

It will be seen that there are great possibilities in the carpet rug.
Eve