The “ugly” rug.
In the first twenty minutes of tufting, I learned three important lessons:
1. The tufting gun moves fast, and it is made up of sharp bits coming out the front end. Take care to tie your hair back, keep your hands steady, and unplug the machine when you’ve got to (inevitably) re-thread it. Luckily, I haven’t had any accidents or injuries from it, but it’s a machine that needs to be respected.
2. Work slowly. Yes, the machine itself moves very quickly, but, as the person working the machine, you’ve got to take your time when figuring out where you’ll be putting in the yarns. If you go too quickly and overwork an area, you’ll end up chewing up the backing fabric and making a messy hole in your work. Yes, I did this on the first rug I made (but I think it adds to its ugly charm).
3. You don’t have to cram each row of yarn right up against the last. Give the rows of tufting a little room between each other so that the pile is able to spread out a bit. My first rug is very densely packed. Yes, it works, but the rug is quite stiff.
Planning the colour wheel.
In progress.
- First, apply Roberts 6700 adhesive to the back of the work to secure every strand of yarn. Let the glue dry overnight.
- The next step is to cut out the work, leaving a 5 cm (2 inch) edge around the tufted work that you’ll fold over later.
- Use your clippers to clean up the front and get the tufted surface looking even.
- Using a hot glue gun, fold the excess backing material onto the back of the work and glue it down securely. I fold mine so the tufted edge is slightly folded over too, so you can’t see where the tufting ends.
- Cut out a piece of your backing—I use carpet foam (that is also sold as a moisture barrier)—and make sure that it will fit just inside of the space on the back where the rug ends.
- Carefully spray Super 77 spray glue on the entire back surface of the tufted work and place the backing foam onto the rug. I pile books onto the foam to hold the backing securely to the rug until the spray glue is dry.
- Once the spray glue is dry, I use my hot glue gun to carefully glue the edges of the foam to the edge where the carpet fold starts. Be mindful not to get the hot glue anywhere that you’ll see it.
The back, prior to finishing.
Rug tufting is expensive to get into—you can expect to spend about $600 on the equipment and supplies—and it takes some practice, but it is a rewarding activity that ends with you having a useable object. Happy tufting!
Getting Started
Caitlin purchased her “cut pile” gun from Tuft the World. They also sell trimmers, backing fabric, and the machine replacement parts.
The glue, backing foam, and carpet grip rods can be purchased at any hardware store that has flooring installation materials.
All photos by or courtesy of Caitlin ffrench.
