_Another Example of Weaving Design._--This feature of rug designing is capable of indefinite expansion. Perhaps one more example may be given. The object was to produce a rug of medium dark centre with an 8-inch border all around of a darker colour. This effect was produced by first weaving 8 inches of the dark end border, which was of mixed goods showing several dark colours contrasting happily. Having reached the place where the medium centre was to begin, a woof thread of this medium colour and of the right length was joined each time to short pieces of woof of the border colour so that, as the weaving progressed along the length of the centre, not only the centre colour appeared in its proper place but 8 inches of border on each side. When the proper length of the centre had been woven, the rug was finished by weaving another 8 inches of the border colour. The result was a rug of individuality and charm.
_Great Variety of Material._--Endless combinations will occur to any one who becomes interested in this captivating art. The field for colour design is almost without limit. No material is so old and useless as to be despised by the clever rug maker. Old bed ticking with its blue and white stripes cut on the bias makes a very desirable combination when woven on a blue warp with a plain blue border. A charming mottled effect in one instance was produced by a yarn which was ravelled from an old raw silk portière of a mahogany shade and wound into balls with finely cut strips of tan cloth, the balls being rewound several times. This was used as the woof for the centre of the rug. The border was made of a weaving thread of the unravelled mahogany yarn, doubled several times to give thread of a size equal to that of the tan cloth. Discarded clothing in which the prevailing colours are red, when made up into woof threads and woven on a white warp, gives a charming effect which may be strengthened or toned down by a border combination as desired. Dyes may, of course, be used if the colours of the weaving threads made up from old cloths and discarded clothing are not suited to the design that is to be worked out.
_Weaving the Rug._--When the design for the rug has been thoroughly worked out, determining the colours, materials to be used, and the method of procedure, the warp and the woof threads should be prepared and the warp attached to the loom, as already explained in the discussion of the general process of weaving. Further details of procedure are not needed here. The thing to do is to weave a rug as designed. The next thing to do is to design and weave another rug, and then another and so on. As in most crafts so in weaving, experience is the great teacher--a teacher who demands faithful work, who finds lessons of value in every failure and abundant satisfaction in every success. Some of these successes were found in the rugs illustrated opposite page 252.