Rugged Determination Braided crafts interweave passions for beauty, function and creativity

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Braided rugs did not float like multicolored water lilies upon the bare floors of my life when I was growing up. No one in my family made them or owned any. But at the homes of the elderly woman friends my mother visited, with me and my sister in tow, faded and worn braided rugs often lay in welcome by shed doors opening into snug kitchens dominated by old-fashioned, black iron cook stoves. We wiped our feet on those old rugs – the purpose they were intended for.

In some of those homes, braided rugs covered entire living room floors, giving the high-ceilinged rooms charm and warmth.

Several women in my hometown braided rugs for their own satisfaction and use, but I was not aware of that until later in my life and old enough to appreciate the work that went into creating such elegant and magnificent floor coverings.

One woman I knew kept an antique treadle sewing machine set up in one corner of her immaculate living room where she spliced strips of wool fabric together whenever the spirit moved her. She braided – a modern-day Rapunzel as I like to think of her – in the evening as the family watched television programs.

Braiding, an ancient craft so universal most of us learned it as children, is so versatile it can be used for practical purposes aboard sailing ships or to make delicate French plaits in a daughter’s fine hair. Women of the Victorian era braided hair into jewelry, and cowboys in the West braided rawhide into whips and quirts.

Norma Sturges writes in her book “The Braided Rug Book” that we tend to think of braided rugs as providing grace notes of color and comfort in early American homes. But that, she says, is not the case. While braided rugs were, indeed, an American invention, they did not debut until the early 1800s. The first to be recorded in U.S. history was made by a Miss M. Locke of Andover, Mass., who won $2 when she entered the rug in an agriculture show in 1827, Sturges writes.

Three factors, according to Sturges, accounted for the development of braided rugs – the braiding of straw to make bonnets and floor mats, homemakers’ interest in acquiring floor coverings, and local factories that began to produce wool fabrics.

John Halloran, 58, of Bangor has been braiding rugs for 25 years and teaching the craft for 10 years. The pile of rugs he brought to a class for show and tell included one made to look like a turtle, several “hit-or-miss” rugs with no planned color schemes and a rug braided from neckties.

“I learned to braid from a booklet called ‘Beautiful Braiding,'” he said. “No one showed me how. I learned by doing.”

One of Halloran’s students, Terry Fortin of Bangor, has taken Halloran’s adult ed class at Bangor High School four times.

“It’s a wonderful class,” she said, showing the rug she was working on. “Look what you go home with.”

The tables in the classroom were covered with students’ rugs in various stages of completion. Each rug reflected the “hand” of the maker. Some were tightly braided, others were more loosely crafted. Color schemes varied from muted heather-tone tweeds to bright turquoise pebbled with black, a small hint of the infinite color choices rug braiding offers.

Although braiding is not difficult to do, Halloran said, it takes four to six hours to braid 1 square foot of rug.

A rug 4 feet in diameter will need about 11 pounds of wool, according to “The Braided Rug Book.”

Judy Peabody of Glenburn said she didn’t know anything about braiding rugs until she participated in the class. The class taught her “to be patient.” It took three class sessions before she felt confident about what she was doing.

The basic steps of rug braiding are these: Cut wool into 11/2-inch strips. Fold a strip lengthwise so that the edges are contained within the centerfold. Stitch the ends of three folded strips together. Braid the three strips together. Splice in additional strips as you work and keep braiding until about 3 feet of braid is created. Then begin lacing. But not before you do the math to determine where to bend the braid back on itself to form the first round.

Tools needed for braiding are made of metal and include braid-aids that fold the strip as you work, a large flat lacing needle, scissors and a C-clamp to hold the braid firmly in place as you work.

But as simple as all that sounds, Halloran and his students will tell you that braiding is a bit more complex. Lace the rug incorrectly and it will cup up instead of laying flat. Lace it too loosely and it won’t look right. Then there’s the whole dilemma of braid tension – not too loose, not too tight. It takes practice to get it right.

Color planning, splicing on new strips of fabric and finding a source of wool the right weight for rug making are other considerations to keep in mind.

Halloran said the only source of wool currently in Maine is at the Robinson Manufacturing Co. in Oxford, and that is where he buys fabric for braiding.

“Rug braiding may be on its way to becoming a dying art as sources of new wool vanish,” Halloran said. Guilford, Corinna and other towns in Maine used to have mills that manufactured wool fabric, but they are long gone.

Yet, Cathy Corbett, vice-president of Robinson Manufacturing, said in an e-mail, “there is a growing interest in rug braiding and rug hooking across the country.”

Halloran said his classes continue to attract students who fall in love with the craft.

Janelle Wheldon of Bangor, taking the rug braiding class for the first time, was at work on her second and third rugs – simultaneously. “This is a room full of kindred spirits,” she said happily as she enthusiastically laced the long braid together, with Halloran’s guidance, to create an oval-shaped rug that will bloom like a charming flower upon a pale wood floor.

Ardeana Hamlin can be reached at 990-8153 and ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.

Sources of rug braiding information

. Want to attend a rug braiding camp on Maranacook Lake near Winthrop? E-mail ndyoung@ctel.net, or call 337-6131.

. To learn more about John Halloran’s rug braiding classes, call him at 942-7715, or call Bangor Adult Education, 941-6310.

. Verna Cox of Verona Island sells rug braiding supplies and instruction videos. 469-6402.

. Free downloads of rug braiding instruction are available at www.braidedrug.com.

. The Robinson Manufacturing Co. in Oxford sells rug wool and rug braiding supplies. Visit www.oxfordmillendstore.com to obtain more information.

. Halcyon Yarn in Bath sells rug braiding supplies, including braid aids, lacing cord and lacing needles. Visit www.halcyonyarn.com or call (800) 341-0282.