Undoing an old Repair - Afghan Rug Restoration Project In Progress









As is almost always the case, we first professionally cleaned the rug before we began our latest Afghan rug restoration project.  We then extracted the old patch so that we could restore the area properly.  Next, we carefully reconstructed the warp (the white vertical strands in the photo below).


Subsequently, we reconstructed the weft (the brown horizontal yarns).  Once the warp and weft were reconstructed, they formed a grid-like structure upon which we then reknotted the pile.  Below is a photo of the weft reconstruction in progress.


The photo below illustrates the benefits of this kind of restoration.  The warp and weft are not superficially attached to the rug; rather, they are integrated into the structure of the original rug making this kind of restoration both more aesthetically pleasing, but also more long-lasting.  Indeed, absent any extraordinary stress on the area, this restoration will last the life of the rug if not longer.   





When the warp and weft reconstruction were completed, we began reknotting the pile.  The long red vertical yarns (the fuzzy section in the bottom right hand corner of the photo below) is the reconstructed pile in progress.



Below is a view of the reconstructed pile taken from the back of the rug.



Below are photos of the reconstructed pile before we cut back the yarns.



Below is the completed pile before we cut back the yarns so that they are the same length of the original rug (the restored section almost looks like a Turkish Tulu which are very much in vogue these days).   In our next post we will share a photo of the result of this Afghan rug restoration project.  --www.traditionalrugrepair.com