Carpet weaving is one of the most ancient types of needlework, known in Europe and the countries of the East since the early Middle Ages. Once carpets were used to protect from the cold, they hung up damp stone walls of castles, laid them on cold stone floors. In the East and Central Asia, where carpet weaving reached the highest level of craftsmanship, soft fluffy carpets were used for sitting, they were sleeping on them, reclining during meals, in a word, they were an integral part of the eastern decoration. It was in the countries of the Middle East and Central Asia that knotted weaving was used to make carpets , with the help of which thick fluffy and soft fabrics were created.
In European countries, tapestry weaving is more common. Thin woven tapestries depicting genre scenes and complex ornamental compositions adorned the walls of castles and palaces of noble nobles. Elegant tapestries were not only woven on special looms, but also embroidered with various seams, creating real embroidered paintings of extraordinary beauty. Craftswomen used various types of stitches for embroidering carpets. The most popular and now widely used for embroidery are cross and half cross, oblique and straight tapestry seam, Bulgarian cross, chain stitch and some others. Carpet embroidery with these popular seams is done on a large canvas or thick cotton fabric with a large direct weave of lobar and transverse threads, forming a pronounced mesh. The technique of embroidering carpets with the above-mentioned seams and the seams themselves are called counting, when it is necessary to calculate the number of color stitches applied to the canvas, in accordance with the number of cells in the color scheme of the carpet pattern.
Modern carpet embroidery technique
Modern craftswomen widely use counting techniques for embroidering carpets and tapestries. Over time, motifs and ornaments for embroidery change, each new century brings its own plots and patterns to create carpets, but the counted embroidery technique remains unchanged, and this is its absolute value.
However, the art of creating carpets and panels is developing, embroiderers invent new methods of embroidery and create modern original decorative things for decorating the interior. One of these techniques, not very old and very modern, is the technique of embroidering carpets using a knitting hook. To work, you need the largest canvas, it is better if it is stramin, the remains of multi-colored knitted twisted threads and a hook corresponding to their thickness.
First, select a picture or ornament for the future rug. This can be any pattern for cross-stitch, only, for starters, not very complex and multi-colored. In accordance with the color palette of the pattern, we select the threads for embroidery. Then we cut them into even segments of the same length and lay the prepared bundles of thread in a suitable container so that they are at hand. Half the length of the length of thread equals the height of the carpet pile, the longer the thread, the higher the pile at the carpet. On average, the length of the thread is 5-7 cm.
We take the hook, insert it into the canvas hole, we hook the thread folded in half by the loop, pull this loop through the hole, then insert the hook into the adjacent canvas hole, without removing it from the loop, hook the thread and stretch its end through the loop, we get a knotted knot with a brush at the end. With these knots, brushes fill the entire surface of the canvas in accordance with the color pattern. The result is a beautiful long-naped rug, which will be a wonderful decoration in the room. To fix the knots from the wrong side, we recommend that you coat the finished mat with diluted water with PVA glue.
Another simple technique for embroidering carpets is with a chain stitch. Tambour seam is as follows. From the wrong side, pierce the fabric on the front and bring out the needle and thread. We make a loop from the thread, pierce the fabric again at the point where the needle exits and bring the needle out a short distance from the place of the first puncture to the face so that it passes into the formed loop, and tighten the thread. From the loops formed tightly one from the other, and it turns out a chain stitch, which gradually smooth or broken lines (depending on the selected pattern) sew up the entire colored background of the carpet. For embroidery use a thick twisted thread, then the texture of the carpet is more embossed. Sewing carpets provides an opportunity for the manifestation of limitless creative imagination, and it is not necessary to use ancient labor-intensive techniques for this.