Every Carprugs rug is made by hand. The methods vary, from hand-knotting to hand-tufting and flat-weaving, but each depends on skill, judgement and time. This page explains what we mean by craftsmanship, and how a rug moves from idea to floor.
“How our rugs are made, from the first drawing to the finished edge, and why the process matters.”
Three ways of making
Hand-knotted. The weaver ties individual knots of yarn around pairs of vertical warp threads, row by row, locking each row in place with horizontal wefts. The pile is part of the rug's foundation. Hand-knotted rugs are the most durable and the most time-consuming to make, and they can be cleaned and repaired over a long life.
Hand-tufted. Yarn is punched through a stretched cloth with a hand-held tool, then secured with a backing. Tufting allows bold, graphic designs and sculpted surfaces at a more accessible level.
Flat-woven. Pattern and structure are created together by interlacing coloured wefts through warps, with no pile. India's dhurrie is the best-known example. Flatweaves are light, often reversible and easy to live with.
Each product page states the construction of the rug clearly.
From drawing to floor
A hand-knotted rug typically passes through these stages:
- Design. A drawing or painting is developed and refined, with scale, colour and construction decided.
- Graph. The design is translated into a knot-by-knot map for the weaver. In Kashmir, weavers have long used the talim, a colour-coded script.
- Yarn. Wool, and sometimes silk or other fibres, is prepared and spun.
- Dyeing. Yarn is dyed in batches to the specified palette.
- Loom. Warps are strung under even tension.
- Knotting. Knots are tied row by row, with wefts beaten down between rows.
- Washing. The finished rug is washed to settle the knots and bring out colour and lustre.
- Finishing. The pile is clipped to an even height, edges and ends are secured.
- Inspection. The rug is checked and any small repairs made.
What we look for
When we assess a rug, we look at the evenness of the weave and the tension of the edges, the clarity of the drawing, the quality and handle of the wool, the consistency of the clipping and the care taken in finishing. We also look at how the colours sit together in daylight, and how the rug lies on the floor.
What we do not correct
Handmade rugs have natural character. Gentle variation in tone, known as abrash, a small difference between the stated and actual dimensions, a slightly uneven fringe: these are signs of a rug made by hand. We do not treat them as faults, and we try to describe them clearly so that there are no surprises.
Time
Hand-knotting in particular takes time. Depending on size and fineness, a rug may spend many weeks or months on the loom. For made-to-order pieces, we give an estimated lead time at the outset and keep you informed.
Learning more
Our journal includes a longer account of the process in "Inside the Loom: From Graph to Knot", and a guide to construction terms in "Hand-Knotted, Hand-Tufted, Flat-Woven: What the Words Mean".
Last updated September 2026.