Meet Rug Hooking: Common Rug Hooking Mistakes
Note: I am a hobbyist who loves arts and crafts. I am not an expert, and intend the following only as a brief intro for fellow novices to this really cool craft. My sources are listed here, if you’d like to research further!
I love learning from mistakes... but I love avoiding them more!
If you like to learn on the fly, and embrace mistakes as an opportunity to learn meaningful lessons… good for you, and skip this post!
But if, like me, you are impatient to create something beautiful, are lucky to squeeze a half hour of creative time out of any given day, or simply want to benefit from the experience of those who came before, then read on!
Below are 6 revelations I had during my very first rug hooking project. Watch out for these novice mistakes!
CHEAPING OUT ON THE HOOP OR FRAME
I thought I’d be clever and thrifty, like rug hookers of yore, and reuse a cheap-o embroidery hoop from a past kit. I spent more time trying to pull and re-pull the fabric taught, so that it wouldn’t collapse every time I pulled a loop, than actually hooking. Give yourself a fighting chance, and choose a decent quality hoop or frame.
BEING STINGY WITH THE LOOP HEIGHT
If the pattern calls for quarter-inch high loops, be sure to measure AFTER you’ve removed your hook, and the loops have settled and squished to normal height. Out of fear of running out, I was measuring - Scrooge-style - with my loop pulled up tightly on my hook. I wound up with WAY too much extra material and a decidedly flat project.
NOT PRACTICING FIRST
If you’re a complete newbie like me, or are working with a new type of material or backing, you definitely want to get a feel for what you’re working with. Eager beaver that I am, I dove right in… and wound up with wonky spacing throughout. In some areas, I bunched up my loops and bubbled the backing. In others, I over-spaced and left unattractive gaps. All easily avoidable had I practiced first!
HOOKING WITH THE “WRONG” SIDE OF YOUR FABRIC STRIP
The organic, folksy look of rug hooking makes it really hard to go wrong with your fabric - who’s to know that you didn’t intend for it to look that way?! But I did discover that custom dyed fabric isn’t consistently colored. And while you can often use either side to equally beautiful effect, occasionally the look you’re going for means there’s a “right” side, and a “wrong” side for looping. On my own project, I wasn’t paying attention, and pulled up the lighter side of the hand-dyed wool, which gave my project a washed out look. Sigh.
STARTING BIG
Ok, I’m happy to say that, although I DID purchase a sizable rug pattern - a total emotional purchase - I had the good sense to test out a small kit first. By the time I finished that one, I knew I wanted to do another. It would suck lemons to discover a quarter of the way into a big project that you simply didn’t like doing it!
NOT HAVING A PLAN FOR HOW TO FINISH OFF YOUR PROJECT OR DISPLAY
I have a lovely little rug hooked piece… lying on a shelf in my closet. I’m not sure whether I want to frame it, wrap the edges, stitch on a backing, or some other variation on the theme. And so I’ve done nothing, and have moved on to other projects. Tragic. Don’t forget this critical step.
I also found a mistakes-to-avoid gold mine in Deanne Fitzpatrick’s “11 Common Rug Hooking Mistakes” article (be prepared to scroll a ways down the page to get to it!) Truly, a must-read!
Even having blundered through my first rug hooking project, you can see that it doesn’t look awful. This is an insanely forgiving medium! Added bonus, rug hooking is a unique enough craft that everyone I showed was too blown away by its novelty to spot any of the blemishes. So, don’t be intimidated! Dive on in!
In my next blog, I’m looking forward to sharing with you some of my favorite things about this clever craft!
