Vermont Floral Cottage chair pad that I’m finishing up! These chair pads are good for using up odds and ends of “wool worms” too…as you can easily stick them in here and there when you are doing whimsical or primitive designs!!! As you can see from the pen marks on the unhooked backing, I changed my mind and changed the design as I was working!!!!! LOL (I do that often!!) : )
One of my “teaching” chairpads…the bird design below! It was adaapted from an old Pennsylvania Dutch image!
If you are a new rug hooker, I think you would enjoy doing some “freestyle” hooking on chair pads or small mats. …but sometimes new hookers feel uneasy about their drawing abilities! As an alternative, if you have a child or grandchild’s drawing, simple children’s drawings make delightful mats or pads!
I like to give beginning students a circle template to draw around on their backing and then they can just draw some simple design to hook. ( the bird above is one of the two or three patterns I suggest If they don’t want to draw something freehand! The others are a pumpkin with stem and vines and a large sunflower) : )
The nice thing about doing a round chairpad is that you are learning to hook around a circle, to hook your center motif and then decide the direction you want your backing rows to go, you learn how to sew rug tape around a circle, to whip the edge of the circle and finish the pad and you have something useful when you finish!!! Also, chairpads finish pretty fast and you don’t have to wait for a large rug to get satisfaction!!!!! LOL Also, if you are new to rug hooking, hooking and finishing a chair pad or small mat will let you know if this is something you enjoy! I happen to love the whole process…from designing to finishing!!! : 0 )
I love these chair pads! They are whimsical and cheerful– what a wonderful idea to soften hard wooden chairs. I particularly love the flowers in a vase– very pretty, very charming!
Thank you so much “wild onion” for the kind words!!! : )
I love to do things that are useful and well as fun and attractive too! Rugs and chairpads, as well as quilts, penny rugs and other fabric and fiber pieces really add a lot to our homes!
Thank you for visiting…
Happy creating! Sunnie : )
I love your rug hooking chair pads. I am very much interested in how I can make my own. I have searched many craft stores in my area and have been unsuccessful. I oringinally found similar chair pads in an anitique store by our cabin in Wisconsin but when I went to order them the company no longer manufactures them. I really fell in love with the idea of rug hooked chair pads for our kitchen table chairs at our cabin. The chair pads that I had seen had black bears on them with a cabin and pine tree. They were really cute! and would be fitting for our cabin decor. Do you have any suggestions or instructions as to how I could make them on my own? I need info on the type of backing and on the type of yarn or wool you use and how I make a pattern. Thank you.
Hi Judy! : )
For rug hooking the way I do it, you need either rug hooking burlap, Monk’s cloth (for rug hooking!) or linen for the backing, a rug hook, a frame or rug hoop and wool yardage…about the weight of a woman’s wool skirt or a man’s wool shirt. You can use thrift shop wools or order from vendors on eBay or from individual websites. There are lots of them!!! : )
If you check on eBay or type in “rug hooking supplies” on Google, you will find a wealth of information on patterns, backings, wool, hooks and frames. You can look on eBay or Amazon for Rug Hooking books and there are several for beginners that are really helpful. Rug Hooking magazine puts out very helpful books for beginners too.
Of course, you can find permission-free designs in Dover Books or clip art or you can draw your own pattern directly on the backing with a black permanent felt pen.
Alice (a day in the life of Alice) on my Bloglist sells patterns and frames, etc. You could ask her if she has a pattern of a bear and tree or a bear and cabin, etc. Also, Searsport Rug Hooking in Searsport, Maine has a shop filled with everything “rugging”!!! : ) They might have a pattern for you.
I am a business, but I do not have a shop and my studio is in my home. I sell a few patterns and hand dyed wools but on a small scale. I am primarily a folk artist and do mostly rugs of my own design…with the exception of the rugs I do on this Blog for the daily posts.
I find rug hooking peaceful and serene, low tech (!!) and yet fun and exciting to do also. If you have a rug hooking teacher close to you, he/she could help you get started and recommend beginner hooks and frames that are not so costly. Rug hooking is not an inexpensive art/craft but it is wonderfully satisfying to those of us who love it!
I hope this helps…is there anything elso I can help with?
Warm Regards, Sunnie : )
Do you have kits to sell or how can I order a chair pad?
Thanks they are so colorful.
Hello Linda:
Thank you for visiting! : ) I don’t really have kits because they are quite expensive to put together and a person might want other colours of wool for the chairpad they choose…instead of my choices! LOL
Are you interested in a pattern that you can hook yourself? Or are you looking for a finished one? I have quite a few finished chairpads at the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild in downtown St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
I do a limited number of special orders if a person has something in mind…and have a few patterns for chairpads on linen or Monk’s cloth.
If you’d like to email me privately, you can visit my website at http://www.oldcrowfarmhooked-rugs.com
and email me from there.
Warm Regards, Sunnie : )