Turning an Idea into a Rug Hooking Pattern at Pastimes PEI

“Millview  Too!” pattern by Pastimes PEI

It’s all about simple compositions and, classic PEI rug hooking style as we create our Pastimes PEI rug hooking patterns. We hook our pieces to see how they work before we offer them for sale as patterns or kits. We want the people who hook our designs to simply enjoy the process and, in turn, create a hooked piece of their own art that stands the test of time.

In the past, when we began making our our designs to hook for ourselves, we made simple designs that used minimum colors because we were using what we had on hand. The more we studied the old rugs from Prince Edward Island, the more we understood how ‘mats’ were hooked in the past before traditional rug hooking became a popular leisure hobby for many people and a business for those providing the materials, equipment and lessons for thousands of eager crafters.

We start with an idea, scratch it on a piece of paper, work out a rough draft of the composition, the size, the proportions, the border, the colors ….. and ‘voila’ a new rug is taking shape.  You will notice that all of our rugs have a name. We call them by name. We always have a reason for making each and every pattern, therefore, the name evolves.

It takes planning to get patterns ready. The more planning you do up front, the easier it will be to hook your design. If you are planning your own pattern, here are a few simple rules:

• Sketch your subject matter using the same proportions as the actual hooked piece
• Take into consideration the size of motifs in the drawing; are they large enough to actually hook?
• Use a piece of backing that is large enought to accomodate the entire work; you have to include the width of your border and you need room around the edges to attach to your frame for hooking;
• Draw the outside edges on the grain of the backing for a rectangle or square rug; draw any straight edged motifs on grain as well, using the pattern lines as a guide
• Use a permanent black marker to draw the pattern; you’d be surprised how pencil lines disappear as you hook on your project
•  Keep a notebook of your original inspirations, ideas, sketches and dates along with the progress of the work so you can prove ownership and, therefore, copyright of your work.
  

  A Display of Pastimes PEI Hooked Items

For us here at Pastimes PEI the most exciting aspect of rug hooking is seeing a new pattern hooked for the first time; we hook all our patterns ourselves before we sell a pattern, just to make sure it is suitable to hook at any skill level.  But when people start showing us their versions, it is simply a thrill. You can see what I mean by the following two examples hooked from our pattern, Evergreen. I have just listed the pattern on our Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/pastimespei.

Hooked by Kim Allen of British Columbia – reminds her of Emily Carr and cedars on West coast

Heather Tweedy’s Evergreen summery PEI version

Shirlee Hogan’s Blue Spruce version with a touch of autumn

Tags: crafts, culture, evergreen tree, Pastimes PEI, PEI culture, PEI rug hooking history, Prince Edward Island, rug hooking patterns, rughooking, textiles, traditional rughooking