Turkish knots
Overlapping Turkish knots
Tabby weave strip
(here shown with a fringe of overlapping Turkish knots)
Finishing a rug
(especially suited for smaller scales)
The antique European Savonnerie or Aubusson type rugs I've seen don't have fringe, but adding fringe to an Oriental style needlepoint rug makes it look more finished.
A shade similar to natural linen (a light gray/beige) usually looks best. For 1:48 and 1:144 scale rugs, I use cotton sewing thread (a single thickness, not doubled). In larger scales, use your preferred thread, and as many strands as you need to get the density you like. In the pics, I've used a single strand for clarity.
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Turkish knots |
Overlapping Turkish knots |
Tabby weave strip (here shown with a fringe of overlapping Turkish knots) |
Finishing a rug (especially suited for smaller scales) |
The Turkish knot used in Oriental rugs is also popular for fringing miniature rugs. It works well for 1:12 scale, perhaps also 1:24 scale depending on what count you're working on. This fringe is easy to stitch and has well-defined "knots", one per every two holes in the canvas or gauze. Use multiple strands to get the fringe as full as you like.
As there's a bit of space between the knots, this type of fringe doesn't go very well with my finishing method described at the bottom of this page, as the gauze or canvas shows between the fringes. You'll probably want to fold in a "seam allowance" instead, either before or after stitching.
To stitch a fringe with Turkish knots, follow the instructions for overlapping knots below; just do step 1 to 5 and then continue making identical knots next to each other.
When I first fringed a 1:48 scale rug using the Turkish knot I didn't like the results. The finished fringe only had about 25 knots across, and it looked out of scale to me. So instead I let the knots overlap each other to make the fringe denser. Janet Granger uses a similar stitch on a folded canvas edge in her book, but I found that too bulky in smaller scales. Instead, I leave the gauze flat while stitching the fringe, and then finish as shown on the bottom of this page. This is my own idea, and I think it makes smaller scale carpets sufficiently flat without risking that the edge unravels.
Overlapping Turkish knots work especially well for small scales like 1:48 and 1:144. It yields a dense, even, fringe. You'll probably want to use fewer strands than you would for the basic side-by-side Turkish knots, as there will be twice as many knots (one per hole).
I find it easiest to stitch the fringe while the gauze is still fixed in the embroidery frame. You need to have at least 10 or so meshes of gauze between the ends of the finished needlework rug and the frame to make room for the fringe.
Make a knot and secure the thread about 10 meshes from the stitched edge (1). Push the needle down one stitch from the edge and up again at the very edge (2). Push down one stitch to the right of the original stitch (3) and back up below the horizontal thread (4). (Easiest done if you leave some slack at step 3, and tighten it after step 4.)
Finish the stitch and prepare for the next by taking a stitch next to the knot (5). For the next stitch (and all following), push down in the rightmost hole already used and up in the next hole to the left, above the horizontal thread of the prevous stitch (6). Push down in the first unused hole to the right and back up in the next hole to the left, below the horizontal thread (7).
Continue in the same fashion, repeating the steps showed in pic 6 to 8 until the entire edge is fringed.
For an extra touch of realism, you can add a narrow "tabby weave" section between the fringe and the actual rug design. Oriental rug collectors often refer to it as "kilim end" or "end finish". It's not just used in hand-knotted rugs, but also in e.g. rag rugs. When the rug is started, the kilim end distributes the warp evenly before the actual weaving or knotting; at the end, it secures the weave or knots of the completed rug so that the warp threads can be tied into knots.
The tabby weave strip generally has the same color as the fringe. As a narrow strip of the canvas or gauze will show along with the tabby weave in the completed piece, you need to use a similar shade for stitching the fringe and tabby weave. If in doubt, stitch a small sample of tabby weave in a spare corner of your canvas or gauze so see if the background jumps out at you as in pic 12 below, or if it blends nicely. Gauze is more forgiving than canvas as it has a softer color.
Some tribal oriental rugs have kilim ends with color stripes, so if you're stitching such a rug you might want to experiment with using more than one color for the tabby weave.
Stitching the fringe first seems to be easiest. Leave one thread of canvas between the needlepoint and the fringe, maybe more if you'd like (1). With a single strand of your fringe thread in the needle, secure it as you did for the fringe and pass it through the first knot (2), through the hole right above (3), and up at the very edge (4).
Now for the fun and easy part. Pass the needle over one thread, under one, in the first visible line of holes across the end of your rug (5). When you reach the edge the thread will be either on the front or on the back depending on if your rug has an odd or even stitch count. Turn and go back in the same holes (this time passing over the "warp" where you passed under it before, and vice versa), on the outside of the first row of stitches (6). If you have a very thin thread and coarse canvas, you may want to go back and forth an extra time, always on the outside (fringe side) of the earlier stitches. When you're done with the row, pass the needle through the next hole below at the edge, to prepare for the next row (7).
Stitch in the next line of holes all across, taking care to not catch the top of the fringe stitches as you stitch (8). When you turn and go back, make sure you pass on the outside of the previous row, to preserve the tabby weave structure as shown (9, top). Else you'll get a chain type look (9, bottom).
To secure the thread, pass the needle down in one hole and up in the next (10), through the 2nd knot (11), and you're done (12). Now you just need to secure the edges. If you want to use the same method as I do, you find it below.
This method gives a sufficiently neat finish for 1:48 and 1:144, but if you'd prefer to leave a folded-in "seam allowance" or use some other non-glue method, please do.
I got the idea for backing the straight edges with glue from a similar approach that some people use: soaking the edges with FrayCheck. Though FrayCheck may very well hold the threads even more securely, I don't recommend it as it often makes the thread appear darker, and even can leave permanent whitish marks if the bottle is old or defective. I've met people who've had that happen to their painstakingly stitched rugs, and they were not happy. In my opinion, glue is a safer choice. I've used this method for a couple of years and haven't had any problems, but of course I can't give any guarantees about the glue's possible long-term effects on the needlepoint or gauze.
After fringing, apply Tacky Glue or similar on the back of the rug, on the last few rows of stitching only. Do this around all edges of the rug, including the fringed ends. Work it in a bit, using a stiff paintbrush, so it secures the embroidery threads and the gauze (1). On the fringed ends, cover the heads of the knots and the first couple of gauze threads outside them, any tabby weave, and a couple of rows of needlepoint. On the other sides apply it to about two or three rows of stitching - try not to get any on the canvas as it could easily push through the holes and soil the right side. Here I haven't finished applying the glue, so you can se about how much I've covered with glue (2).
When the glue has dried completely, cut the gauze and fringe to a suitable length at the ends, and trim the gauze close to the stitching on the other two sides. This makes the gauze at the ends as long as the fringe, and for 1:48 and 1:144 scale I leave it at that. In larger scales you may want to fold the fringe back and trim away some of the gauze, leaving at least two or three rows to be sure it doesn't unravel.
