How to Make a Rug Loom at Home

Pick out two stretcher bars 10 inches longer than the length of your rug. Also, pick out two stretcher bars 10 inches wider than the width of your rug. Stretcher bars are sold in sets of two, and the bars are made of wood. The ends are mitered and slotted to fit into each other to form 90-degree corners.

Assemble the stretcher bar on a large table surface. Press or hammer the ends into each other, using the slots carved into the bars. Measure across the diagonal from corner to corner. When the measurements are the same, the frame is straight.

Position a metal L-bracket centered over both bars at the corner. Screw through the bar and into the wood at each of the four holes on the bracket. The screws should penetrate 1/2 to 3/4 of the wood.

Place the loom with the smaller ends at the top and bottom. In most cases, rugs are woven with the warp threads stretching across the smaller ends. Tie a tightly spun rug cord to the bottom left side of your bottom frame. The first cord should be 2 inches from the left side of the loom.

Bring the cord to the top board, over the top and down the back to the bottom. Space the cords 1/8 inch apart and keep the cords taut. Continue wrapping your warp cords until you are 2 inches from the right board. Tie your cord off at the bottom left.

Twine your warp cords. Twining is the process of bringing the threads on the front of the loom even with the threads on the back of the loom. Measure the width of the warp cords and multiply by 4. Cut a cord this length. Fold the cord in half. Slip the fold around the front and back of the top leftmost warp cord. Place a clothespin over the cord to hold it in place.

Thread the front cord to the back and around the first leftmost warp cord on the back of the frame. Bring the cord back to the front between the first and second front leftmost warp cords. Take the back cord under the twining cord and to the front between the first and second leftmost warp cords. Take the same cord back over the twining cord to the back between the first and second leftmost back warp cords. Wrap the cord around the second back cord and bring it to the front between the second and third front leftmost warp cords. This sounds complicated but it is simply a twisting figure eight. Pull the cords taut as you weave, and this will bring the front and back warp cords even in the middle of the loom frame.