Introduction
If you love to craft, then the laptop rug hooking frame is an essential tool for you. Rug hooking is a great hobby but genuinely addictive.
Once you start doing it, there’s no going back. You’ll spend hours and days on the hooking equipment creating your favorite designs. But it does pay if you decide to put extra energy into it.
Many rug hookers, to be specific beginners, aren’t always ready to invest hugely in their newly found hobby. They choose to work from a bit of wood frame.
The wood frame is an open wood box. When it’s time for work, you sit on your lap and do your hooking job.
The frame is pretty pricey when you choose to buy it. You will have to spend between $200 and $300 for a great piece. But there’s another option, which is making one. It’s easy and so cheap.
In this article, we have highlighted some of the steps to make a laptop rug hooking frame. So, let’s get back to it.
Free Instructions On How To Make A Laptop Rug Hooking Frame
Making a laptop rug hooking frame is not tricky. In this section, we have documented the best steps on how to go with it.
Go through the steps keenly, and I can assure you that you’ll be able to make a perfect hooking frame within hours.
The Materials Needed To Make A Rug Hooking Frame
- Drill
- Screws
- Nails/ Nails for the Nail Gun
- Nail Gun or Hammer
- Wood Glue
- Saw
- 1 Thin Flat Wood Board ( Cut it to 14 by 20 inches)
- 1 by ½ inch Wood ( One used Pine plus you will certainly need 92 inches of the pinewood)
How To Make The Laptop Rug Hooking Frame
Step 1
Cut your wood to the required size. Here are the pieces that you need to cut.
- Two front legs: Each measuring 6 inches long; one end of each leg is cut at an angle of 10 degrees. (Note that one’s side is ¼ inch shorter)
- Two back legs: Each measuring 8 inches long; one end of each leg is cut at an angle of 10 degrees. (Note that one side is ¼ inch shorter)
- Cut 20-inch pieces that are to be used as back and front top pieces. (These pieces need no angles)
- The two top side pieces should measure 12 inches long. (These pieces need no angles)
- Cut the flat bottom board. It should measure 14 by 20 inches.
Step 2
Attach the top front piece to the two front legs using a nail gun and wood glue. Repeat the exact step on the top back pieces and the two back legs. The leg pieces should be attached to the end of the top pieces.
Step 3
Attach the top side pieces to the back and front pieces made in “Step 2.” In the case where you are using a nail gun, use one that shoots 1 ½ inch nails.
You can also use a drill and screws. You should always use wood glue on all the connections before screwing or nailing them. This increases stability and support.
Step 4
Lay the top frame on your flat board and record the measures or trace its shape on the flat board. Cut it according to the exact measurements.
Step 5
Attach the cut flat bottom board to the frame. You then flip the frame upside down and add wood glue on all four ends. Use a nail gun to attach the board to the frame legs firmly.
After this, you’ll be done, and the laptop hooking frame is now ready for use. If you love pretty craft, you can paint it any color. Staining it is also another option that’ll give it a great look.
How To Use The Laptop Hooking Frame
Using the laptop hooking frame is so straightforward. All you need to do is lay your project on its frame. Use the thumb tacks to secure your project material to the wooden frame tightly.
Do not worry; the wood frame is so soft. You won’t struggle to put the thumbtacks into it, plus your fingers will not be hurt in the process. You can also move to remove the tacks easily to adjust your project.
What Is Rug Hooking
Technically, rug hooking is making a rag. But it does not only mean making rugs for the floor. Most rug hookers do make rugs for wall decorations.
It’s some different types of wall art, and the craftspeople do understand this better. It’s a piece of art that doesn’t use paint.
The purposes of the rags are varied, and you can undoubtedly find or make a rug for any job. Rug hooking is a practice that has been present for years.
History Of Rug Hooking
It was pretty common in the 19th century. It’s something that anybody can do, but it’ll be better if you have extra love and liking for it.
Rug hooking and quilting are closely associated. But rug hooking, which is a practice that started long ago, is not quite as popular as quilting. The reason was about money and status.
Quilting was considered fine art by many in the 1800s. Alongside embroidery, the rich would make sure their daughters have learned about it. Quilting was seen as an art of the higher class, and many people did want to know about it.
On the other hand, rug hooking was for the lower status. It was an art for the common folk. They were referred to as people with scabs.
It was until, let’s say, about a century later, that rug hooking developed a significant following. That was in the 1930s. It broke free from its lower status, and people accepted it as a unique type of art. This is a short history of one of the once most despised art.
Is Rug Hooking Difficult
It’s undoubtedly one of the easiest crafts today. This does not mean that it is pretty easy to excel at it.
But when it comes to technique, you can learn about everything you need to know and start making rugs in minutes.
For a start, get yourself a piece of linen. It should be the size of the rug you wish to make. Start with something small such as a kitchen mat.
You’ll go to more extensive and complex designs with time. On the kitchen mat, you can draw any pattern on it. If designing a pattern is challenging, visit Etsy. It has several great patterns.
The tricky part of rug hooking is picking colors, shading and creating interesting patterns. These three do require practice and skill.
The other great skill that you’ll need as a hooker is cutting. Or else you’ll always be messing up your work.
Material
The primary material in rug hooking is wool. The rugs made are always 100% wool. The idea of using wool became quite popular in the 1900s.
Before that, the rug hookers could use any material they found. I guess the uncertainty in the type of material to use before the 1900s made rug hooking a craft for the poor.
Wool makes the rug more durable. Meaning you can use it for a long plus can wash it without spoiling it. Finding the correct type of wool is also another issue.
High-quality wool can be costly. You can go for hand-dyed wool, over-dyed, dip dyed or solid color.
How To Get Wool For Rug Hooking
As mentioned, getting suitable wool for rug hooking is not an easy task. However, there are three ways in which you can undoubtedly acquire wool for your job.
You can purchase the ready-to-go and pre-cut wool.
It comes in various colors. It’s upon you to select the color you like. However, this kind of wool is so expensive.
The second option is purchasing wool that is not cut but pre-dyed. This is, however, still very expensive.
The last and cheapest option is visiting the thrift store. Then look for old wool jackets, skirts and blankets. After purchasing, wash and dye it, but this is optional. You can then cut the wool into various strips.
Even though it’s the cheapest way of doing this, you’ll have to spend extra dollars on the machine that does the wool cutting job.
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you in actualizing your crafting dreams. Knowing how to make a hooking frame is advantageous.
It will save you from investing a lot of money in buying factory-made hooking frames. This is not good for beginners who indeed love doing crafts.
Like many other crafts, making a rug hooker is easy and so practical. I hope you’ve tried it after reading the tutorial.
It’s not hard to learn, plus it’s pretty quick to create if you have the suitable materials and tools. Until next time, I hope you’ll enjoy learning and making the beautiful craft.
