How It's Made

Our iconic Master Series rugs date back to 1978 when the Elizabeth Eakins brand was born. Every aspect of production takes place in our Connecticut Studio, from hand-dyeing the New Zealand wool yarn, to hand-weaving and finishing the rugs. These rugs are woven in panels by our master weavers on narrow looms, and then hand-laced together to create the full rugs. We use only natural fibers (wool and linen) which can be returned to the earth after their full lifespan.

Step 1 - Preparing the yarn

New Zealand wool yarn arrives at our Connecticut Studio in tightly wound "cones", which Johnny then prepares for dyeing by spinning them into loose skeins. The open structure of the skeins enables the yarn to absorb dye most effectively.

Step 2 - Dyeing the yarn

Our dyeing room is set up much like a commercial kitchen. We start the dyeing process by heating open vats to the appropriate temperatures and adding the skeins of wool that we're going to dye to achieve the client's desired shade of color. We have been using the same dyeing techniques for our Master Series since 1978.

We have dyed our wool into thousands of colors, and each color has a "recipe" which is kept in our records for future use. Depending on the colors that a rug needs, dyeing the yarn for one rug can take one to five days.

Step 3 - Preparing the looms

Once the skeins are dyed, Johnny winds them into balls so the weavers can begin threading the looms.

Preparing the loom begins by setting up the warp, the long threads that run lengthwise on the loom and form the foundation of the rug. These warp threads are stretched tightly from the back beam to the front beam and threaded through heddles and a reed, which keep them evenly spaced and aligned.

As the weaver combs the threads into alignment, the warp is wound back onto the beam, preparing the loom for weaving.

Step 4 - Weaving

Once the loom is warped, the weaver begins weaving the weft, which is the yarn that is passed side to side across the warp. By pressing treadles, the weaver lifts specific warp threads, creating a space through which the weft is passed. After each pass, the reed is pulled forward to pack the weft tightly in place, building the dense structure needed for a durable rug. This process is repeated row by row, gradually forming the rug’s pattern and texture until the weaving is complete and the finished rug is cut from the loom.

The average Master Series rug takes one weaver four to five weeks to weave, including the time it takes them to prepare the loom.

Step 5 - Hand-seaming the panels

Because our looms are 48" wide, most Master Series rugs are woven in panels that are seamed together after the weaving has been completed.

The panels are hand-seamed together by our team in the Connecticut Studio. Depending on the rug, a seam will fade into the overall rug pattern, or it will become a feature of the pattern, attesting to the hand-woven nature of the rug.

Step 6 - Finishing the rug

Once the panels of a Master Series rug have been seamed together, the ends that have been cut off of the loom are finished using a blind or reversible binding. Our team in Connecticut applies the bindings by hand.