Our New Rug Collection: A Story of Craft

Beautifully crafted, and designed to add that longed-for finishing touch to a room, our brand new collection of rugs has been a year in the making and we are delighted to finally be able to share it with you.

Woven by skilled weavers in both Turkey and India, the collection includes over 120 different designs, showcasing a wide variety of styles and techniques, each with its own history and traditions.

From hand-tufted rugs that double as both a floor covering and a work of art, to practical designs that bring a welcoming touch to hallways and living rooms, we’ve collected together an array of pieces that will add character and warmth to your home.

Rugs are fantastic for creating a particular look and feel and will bring softness, colour and texture to any room. They’ll not only protect your floors and carpets but will help to tie a space together, often providing that ‘missing piece’ that’s been puzzling you for months.

The story of the collection

It all started, as many Libra journeys do, in India with a visit to a company just outside Delhi that works with gifted rug makers from across the country.

Shuttles in a handloom. Each shuttle holds a length of weft yarn that is thrown back and forth between the threads of the warp to create a weave.

Rug weaving is an ancient and intricate process that requires a great deal of skill, much of which is passed down from generation to generation, with regions developing their own characteristic styles and specialisms.

From manual pit looms, to hand-spun yarns, many of the tools and techniques required to make the rugs are electricity free and considerably more sustainable than most other forms of rug manufacturing. What’s more, many of the raw materials are natural and designs such as our multi-coloured Keret Rug also uses recycled fabrics which are handwoven into the design.

Hand-winding natural yarns

Made with dedication and great pride, each piece is carefully checked to ensure that the pile is neat, and no threads are out of place.

Tufts are trimmed by hand to create a neat and even pile

Rug glossary

Throughout the collection, you’ll see terms such as ‘hand tufted’ and ‘table tufted’, which describe how each rug has been made.

Here, we’ve quickly broken down what each term means:

Pit Loom:  A pit loom is placed on the ground and is operated using pedals that sit in a pit beneath the main frame. The technique is very similar to the handloom, but the fabric sits closer to the ground and as a result absorbs slightly more moisture. This makes the fabric slightly more breathable.

Hand Loom: These rugs are created on a loom which is very similar to that used to weave fabric and the entire process is manual. The warp forms the pile or “face” of the rug and the weft makes the base or “backing” of the rug.

Hand Tufted: A sheet of base fabric or canvas is stretched over a frame and fibres are pulled through the fabric with the help of a needle or a tufting gun.

Table Tufted: This technique is slightly more mechanised and ideal for creating shaggier rugs with longer tufts.

To discover our full range of new and exclusive rugs, shop the collection here.