After trying nearly every quilting and needleworking tool on the market, I finally came up with my list of must-have tools for working
arraiolos rugs. Ruggers of the world, what have you found?
Tapestry Needles
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| Boye Size 16 Tapestry Needles |
Size 16 Embroidery or Tapestry Needles have good handfeel and work well with large hole jute (new in the past couple of years). If you're working jute with smaller holes, try Size 18.
When do you need to replace a needle? When the nickel plating starts to wear off (it will begin looking dull where you grasp it), it's time to replace. The nickel plating prevents the needle from rusting, color transfer, and catching on thread. Better safe then sorry!
Needle Threaders
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| Dritz Tapestry Needle Threaders |
These tapestry needle threaders are, hands down, the only way to thread your needles. Throw away your dental floss, your paper snippets, and everything else your mother taught you about threading yarn needles. These threaders can be difficult to find in your local hobby or needlework store (JoAnn carries them), but you can get them for a few dollars more at Amazon if you can't find them locally.
Thimbles
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Nexcare Absolute Waterproof First Aid Tape, 1-Inch
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I attended a needle-turn applique course last year. The entire class was worth this one tip: replace your thimble with a layer of Nexcare Absolute Waterproof First Aid tape. Available at grocery stores, pharmacies, and, of course, on Amazon, this tape is widely available, low cost, and doesn't interfere with the natural range of motion of your finger joints. One layer of tape has just enough cushion to act as a thimble. Since the tape is waterproof, you can wear it all day in case your sewing sessions are interrupted. I'm right handed and wrap both the tip of my index and middle fingers on my right hand, taking care to wrap above the top joint.
If you prefer a traditional thimble, I recommend the following:
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| Dritz Leather Quilter's Thimble |
I tried every thimble peddled by craft stores around the country before I found these babies. I use one on both my index and middle finger of my right hand. I use both fingers to push the needle through and the leather allows me to maintain perfect control of the needle but still protects my fingers when I'm pushing or pulling a needle through layers of yarn. The downside to these thimbles is that they start out quite stiff which means that the range of motion of your finger joints is constrained. This can lead to tendon pain in your fingers and wrist if you sew for long periods of time. Just about the time they break in and become soft and supple, the pad starts to wear through.
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| Dill Thimbles Jelly Fingers |
My other thimble find was the Dill Thimbles Jelly Fingers. The Jelly Finger works perfectly as a "thumble" for my left hand. I only need the thumble when I'm doing background fill or working on heavy rugs: I push up the rug with my left thumb to get a better needle insertion and, after a while, the skin on the side of my thumb starts pulling away from my fingernail. Owww. Enter Jelly Fingers. The nice thing about Jelly Fingers is that they're inexpensive, they stay in place, and they don't impede your thumb's range of motion. If you can't find them at your local store, they're available at Amazon.
Carrying Case
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| The Paper Studio Project Organizer |
This scrapbooking case works - designed to accommodate larger scrapbooking projects -- works well for carrying around smaller projects (3'x5' or smaller). The front pockets are great for thimbles, embroidery scissors, extra needles, threaders, yarn cards, and patterns. The main pocket fits a well-folded rug and 1 or 2 skeins of yarn. When I'm travelling, I slip a hard-cover book into the back pocket and use the case as a makeshift lap table.
Paper Studio products are available at Hobby Lobby and can be purchased using the 40% off coupons for approximately $6.00.
Rugging Surface
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| Creative Essentials Black Jumbo Lap Desk |
One of the best ways to ensure even tension is to work the rug against a solid surface. Kitchen tables/chairs are the wrong height for me and required that I either stand and bend over or sit hunched over, which strains my shoulders. I like to sit back on my sofa and put my feet up on an ottoman (with a cushion under my knees) and watch tv while I rug, so a more portable solid surface was needed. Then I tried the lap desk (available at Hobby Lobby or online at Amazon). Beautiful! It allows me to sit back on my couch, put my feet up, and adjust my angle as needed.
It can get a little warm and is tougher to use once you get to the fill for larger projects (bigger than 3'x5') (a feature during the cold winter months), but it's a fantastic all-around work horse.
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| Drafting Desk |
When I started working on my first large project, I realized I needed a way to distribute the weight of the rug better while I worked. I tried a flat portable computer table, but the weight of the rug dragged it off the relatively small surface and made it difficult to work. Also, since the surface was parallel to the ground, I found myself hunching over it. I tried a 5' quilting frame, but it lacked two important elements: a hard surface against which to work and the ability to rotate the rug base as it required that I sew the base onto the frame.
One day I explained my conundrum to an engineer friend. He pointed out that it sounded like the rug needed to "hang" down. Of course! That's actually how they worked tapestries in the old --and ancient -- worlds: hanging from a rack. Smart people, them. I played around for a while with the idea of rigging a loom from a portable clothes rack. But apart from the logistics of anchoring a rug and being able to raise, lower, and rotate it, and finding a hard surface to work against...what if I wanted to watch TV while I rugged? My view would be completely blocked by the rug.
Finally, I figured it out. I needed an angled hard surface. I started looking into craft and drafting desks. I located a drafting desk with a solid base and a surface that can be raised or lowered horizontally and tilted vertically up to 90-degrees (similar to the desk pictured above, available at Amazon). Perfect! I use an exercise ball as a chair and drape the rug over the desk surface. Generally, the draping is all I need. However, when the rug draping over the back side of the surface starts to pull the rug on the front of the surface (usually when I'm start working the field background fill for the second side), I clamp the rug in place using quilters clamps I purchased from a craft store. Perfecto!
Instruction Book
One last thing: Patricia Stone's out-of-print book "Portuguese Needlework Rugs" is the only native English instruction book for working arraiolos rugs. She learned the technique in the workshops of Portugal and her anthropology training led her to study
arraiolos rugging, its origins and its technique, and to present her findings in this book. It's available on Amazon Marketplace (link on the Resources bar to the right). It's an indispensable reference tool for learning the stitches (including the dastardly miter-stitch), the order of operations, and anything else you might want to know about arraiolos (except how to finish a project and attach a fringe...apparently we leave in a different age now where "attach the fringe" is no longer common knowledge). Get it now!
One last thing: Patricia Stone's out-of-print book "Portuguese Needlework Rugs" is the only native English instruction book for working arraiolos rugs. She learned the technique in the workshops of Portugal and her anthropology training led her to study arraiolos rugging, its origins and its technique, and to present her findings in this book. It's available on Amazon Marketplace (link on the Resources bar to the right). It's an indispensable reference tool for learning the stitches (including the dastardly miter-stitch), the order of operations, and anything else you might want to know about arraiolos (except how to finish a project and attach a fringe...apparently we leave in a different age now where "attach the fringe" is no longer common knowledge). Get it now!
