Penny Rugs History

A penny rug is a decoration made of stitched together coin shaped fabric scraps.

Penny rugs history.

My first encounter with penny rug making was over forty years ago. Washing them was done infrequently by hand in a tub usually outside and then hung out to dry in the shade to prevent sun fading. Here s a little history on the penny rug and it s evolution into an embellished art form. A brief history of penny rugs dating back to the 19th century it is believed that penny rugs were a way of using up the remnants of cast off and used woolen clothing that wasn t large enough to cut into strips for hooking rugs.

The history of the penny rug article 1sawhorses i hope that my own recount of their history may help those curious to know more about penny rugs. Collecting until they had enough to create a planned rug or worked the pieces like a quilt until it was large enough to assemble. The history of the penny rug article 1 read more. The term penny rug came from the use of coins as templates for varying sizes of circles that were cut from the fulled or felted wool of hats and clothing.

Traditionally during civil war time around the 1800 s thrifty homemakers i would actually call them textile artists cut up wool coats or pants that were no longer serviceable and they made them into rugs or mats. A history of penny and sewn rugs did the original makers of penny rugs collect wool from friends cast offs of family clothing perhaps from mail order samples from woolen mills or maybe scraps from seamstresses.