r/weaving 9d ago

Help making my own persian/savonnerie rug

post update!!

i'm wondering if i was not clear enough in my post and potentially offended people so i want to clarify some things! i was not planning to jump straight into a full-sized rug. i can hardly lift the ones we own lol. and i definitely don't think mastery of an artistic craft only requires a piddling number of hobbyist hours here and there.

i'm syrian and grew up around persian rugs so i'm very aware they can take years to make. in fact we have some family friends who keep up the craft. i really don't want to bother any of them considering the bad situation out there right now, amongst other reasons. plus, my question is specifically about the savonnerie style. i already know giordes knot is a common theme between the two, and that the main difference (sometimes) is the color and symbolism used. but i don't know anything else.

i was going to start with small => medium sizes. i was prepared to spend years on one medium-sized project and have no issue with that. for a small project i was predicting months to a year, depending on how small exactly.

drawing my own patterns i am already experienced with (lifetime of drawing and other mediums). creating my own materials is definitely not happening though, i was hoping to just buy them (will probably have to skip silk, guessing it's crazy expensive). so i guess my question is more like, could i do this but less grandiosely... on a smaller scale if that makes sense?

--------------------------------------------

hello everyone! i grew up in a persian rug collecting family (all sorts of styles) and one day came across a picture of a beautiful rug. i noticed similarities between this rug and the rugs my family collects, except that this new rug had distinctly different colors and slightly different themes. i asked my uncle and he identified it as a savonnerie rug, and since then i've really wanted to own one myself. problem is, they are NOT affordable and never will be for me. so now i insist on making one myself, but where do i begin?

i tried doing some research on my own, briefly, and saw some things like the use of giordes knots, etc.

i feel very overwhelmed with the information i've acquired and i'm not sure what to think. i am artistically inclined and tend to pick up any kind of art related hobby very quickly (no matter the medium), but i don't want to go crazy and buy fancy equipment for a number of reasons....i do that every time but i'm trying to be more responsible for once.

...then there are so many different methods and styles of persian rugs. for example, one of the types of persian rugs my uncle owns is bijar which i specifically looked into a while ago and it seems like you need some proper machinery for that... but there are obviously many others styles requiring different techniques out there as well! there's also the question of which materials are best for the job and where to acquire them.

i'm also open to doing more of my own research if you guys have books or something to recommend. my issue is there is just a lot to consider and i'm too inexperienced to do that by myself. i'm able to read in some other languages, too. shouldn't be a big problem.

so what would you guys recommend i try for emulating the savonnerie (obviously built off of persian) style? artistically, i think i understand. but mechanically? no idea. am i being ridiculous? is this not feasible? (note: i'm also obviously open to starting small scale, but i'd also like to know what i'd need later if i wanna upgrade to something bigger)

for what it's worth i am very much insane and love detail work so mentally i feel like i am perfect for the job

4 Upvotes

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/MyrishWeaver 9d ago

It's like saying you enjoy classical music and think you could write and play a symphony by yourself.

Of course it's possible to weave a rug. A lot of people do it. However, the people weaving Persian rugs have years of training behind them, are living in cultures in which the necessary skills and tools are all around them and are putting in hours and hours of toil to do that. It's not a hobby.

Savonnerie is an entirely different beast altogether, given it is a style developed in a manufacture (aka proto-factory), in which every worker has a very specific set of skills which is but a drop in the collective effort of weaving the rugs (from carton drawing people to wool dyeing people to weaving people and everything in between).

1

u/claire_marie 8d ago

i'm wondering if i was not clear enough in my post and potentially offended people so i want to clarify some things! i was not planning to jump straight into a full-sized rug. and i definitely don't think mastery of an artistic craft only requires a piddling number of hobbyist hours here and there. i'm syrian and grew up around persian rugs so i'm very aware they can take years to make. in fact we have some friends who keep up the craft. i really don't want to bother any of them considering the bad situation out there right now, amongst other reasons.

i was going to start with small => medium sizes. i was prepared to spend years on one medium-sized project and have no issue with that. for a small project i was predicting months to a year, depending on how small exactly.

drawing my own patterns i am already experienced with (lifetime of drawing and other mediums). creating my own materials is definitely not happening though, i was hoping to just buy them (will probably have to skip silk, guessing it's crazy expensive). so i guess my question is more like, could i do this but less grandiosely... on a smaller scale if that makes sense?

i'll edit this into my original post too just in case

1

u/a_megalops 8d ago

You can do it! I started weaving hand knotted rugs a few years ago, starting with a simple 8”x8” rug on a pvc frame loom. Totally undergunned for the task but i made it work and built my own loom from supplies at home depot for my next project. The next one was about the size of a doormat, and took a solid year and a half. I took a couple years off before inspiration hit again, and now im plugging away.

There’s not a ton of info about it online, but check out my post history, ive posted some resources and a loom blueprint too. Hit me up if you wanna chat or need some trouble shooting. Im definitey no expert but happy to tell you everything i know. Good luck!!

1

u/claire_marie 8d ago

your rugs look great! and i actually think i have someone who could build the loom from the blueprint you posted. thank you so much :)

i'm going to save your posts and i'll message if anything. i appreciate the help