Proddy rug making class

Made by prodding or poking strips of fabric through burlap or linen from the backside, proddy rugs are a fabulous way of upcycling unwanted clothes and textiles into floor rugs or wall hangings.

In their early days, they were often made for more utilitarian use such as by the backdoor as their pile hides the dirt well.

Working on a small piece of hessian, you will create a design and be taught how to poke the rug through the back or through the front using a crochet hook. You can use any material for proddy, however, we will use t-shirt strips for this lesson because of their tensility and ability to grab the hessian.

Rag rugs made this way have many names: clippies, proddies, stobbies, pricked. In Northumberland they are called proggy mats, and in Scotland, they are called clootie mats.

About your facilitator

This workshop will be lead by Ffranses Ingram, a visual artist/illustrator living in the Inner West. She has been working in textiles since a child, studied at the School of Wool and Textiles in Adelaide, and has just returned from a two-month residency at the Textile Centre in Iceland where she explored prod rugs using Icelandic materials. Having been brought up in Wales, textiles had to be functional - an idea which she has never really shaken off. She has tried to make her functional items as beautiful and colourful as possible.

What you'll get

• Three hours of expert tuition

• The hessian base of the rug

• A selection of t-shirt fabrics to choose from

• The skills to continue on their own

What to bring

Bring a 3 to 4.5 crochet hook and any favourite t-shirts you want to recycle. All other materials will be supplied.

Suitable for

No experience required. This is a fun indoor activity suitable for adults, and kids (minimum 10 years old). An adult must accompany any attending kids, and must pay for a separate ticket.