Moroccan Berber Rug Repair - Mid Process

As I explained in my last post, we recently completed a professional cleaning and repair of a fantastic Moroccan Berber rug for a client.  Below is a picture of the hole in the center field of the Berber rug.  



The first step was to professionally clean the Berber rug.  Cleaning is important so as to ensure that the yarns used in the repair will match as much as possible the color of the cleaned rug.  In addition, it is preferable for a restorer to work on a cleaned rug free of dust particles that inevitably become embedded in the pile of a rug subject to foot traffic and normal ambient dust.  The next step, as seen below, was to recreate the missing warp (the vertical white fibers in the middle of the tent (triangle) motif).


After recreating the warp of the Berber rug, the next step was to recreate the weft (the horizontal strands pictured below).


Below is a picture of the reconstructed warp and weft from the back side of the Moroccan Berber rug.  The warp and weft is the structure upon which the knots are constructed.



Below is a picture of the reconstructed warp and weft from the front side.  The loose fibers surrounding the area are compromised knots that we removed before we started the knotting process.


The next step was to begin knotting the missing pile as seen in the picture below.  The process is a bit long, but the reward is well worth it.  At this stage, this Moroccan Berber rug restoration was almost complete and ready to return to what we hoped would be a very happy client who could enjoy it for years to come. --www.traditionalrugrepair.com