Rug making kits come in several different styles, including latch hook, wool hooked, and braided fabric rugs. Craft and big-box stores often stock latch hook rug making kits, while kits for braided or wool rugs may need to be purchased from a company specializing in rug making supplies. The best rug making kits include all of the supplies needed to complete a rug, allowing the buyer to sample the craft without making a large investment in supplies or tools.
Rugs made with latch hooking use a special tool to attach short lengths of yarn to a canvas base. Popular latch hook patterns include flowers, nature scenes, animals, and cartoon characters. Latch hook kits come with a printed or painted canvas and short strips of acrylic yarn in whatever colors are needed to complete the design. Some latch hook rug making kits come with the latch hooking tool needed to complete the rug, while others do not. Latch hooking tools can be purchased wherever the related rug making kits are sold.
To make a wool hooked rug, long strips of felted wool are tucked into a grid fabric base or a burlap base. Wool strips for rug hooking can be any color and are usually 1//4-inch (about 6 mm) wide. A latch hook or crochet hook is used to manipulate the wool into the rug base. Rug making kits designed to produce a wool hooked rug usually include the grid or burlap base, wool needed to complete the project, and basic directions. Some brands include a tool for rug hooking while others require the buyer to provide a basic crochet hook to complete the rug.
Wool rug making kits are generally produced by small, independent designers or cottage industries, and can be found at specialty fiber shops and online. The fiber used for these kits can be commercially felted wool or recycled wool cut from woven garments or felted sweaters. Wool for rug making kits is often custom dyed for the project it is intended for; kits of this nature are often sold as limited editions.
Braided fabric rug kits include long, pre-cut strips of fabric in different colors and a large, thick metal needle for sewing the rug together. Long strips of cotton fabric are meant to be braided into a continuous strip and then coiled and sewn into a rug. Kits for this type of rug usually include coordinated fabrics, directions, and a needle. Strips of fabric are usually 3 inches (about 7.6 cm) wide, but the width can vary slightly, depending on the manufacturer.
