Every journey begins with a first step. In this case, it's the raw materials -- wool, cotton, and silk. Orient Express Rugs are made of 100% New Zealand wool, so each 1,100 lb. bale already has traveled a great distance to this weaving center in India.

Raw wool is washed and rinsed numerous times to ensure that all dirt and debris are removed. The wool is wrung of excess water and dried in a motorized spinner and then in an air drier. Finally the wool is dried outdoors in the sun, except during the rainy season, when the humidity in the air renders it impractical.

Quality control inspectors oversee each phase of the rugmaking process, beginning with the arrival of the wool and ending with the exporting of finished rugs.

Carding

Before spinning and weaving, it is essential that the wool fibers all face the same direction. The wool is combed in a carding machine named for traditional "cards," which are paddle-like brushes set with wire.

Spinning

Once it has been carded, the wool must be spun into yard, by machine or by hand. Hand-spun wool is weighed to ensure proper density along the strand. This wool is nubby with a home-made feel. On average, a spinner spins 2.5-3.5 lbs. of wool per day. A 2' x 3' rug, for example, eventually will take 6.5-8.5 lbs. of wool to produce.

In contrast, spinning machines produce 1,100-1,700 lbs. of wool per day, mixing fibers and pulling them tighter to make them strong and long.

The demand for rugs that are "antique reproductions" has revitalized the art of hand-spinning because the rougher, home-made texture is more appropriate. The desired look of the rug determines which method of spinning is used.

Six carded spools are threaded into one spool, and then six of those are spun into another, as the strand is twisted and lengthened. Six spools are spun into two, then those two into one, then two of THOSE into one. In the end, 432 carded spools are needed to produce one spool of weaving thread.

The spun wool is removed from the spools, then washed several times, then dried in spinning driers or by the sun. The wool is then placed in bundles.

The wool is colored, or dyed, by chemical means or by vegetable means. Vegetable dyes are composed of fruits, vegetables, crushed insects, plants -- any of variety of natural products such as pomegranate skins, cherry juice, apricots, saffron, and indigo.

Chemists keep books of handwritten dye recipes which have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. Different growing and drying temperatures from year to year, or even season to season, affect the pigmentation of certain plants and make exact color rematching nearly impossible, though.

Chemical dyes, on the other hand, use exact measurements to create precise colors. Litmus tests are administered to measure the acidity in the dyes and thus preserve the tensile strength of the fibers. Threads to be used in "antique reproductions" are dyed 4-5 times to ensure variation in color along the strand.

Once dyed, the wool again is washed several times and dried in the sun.

The designs or "cartoons" for Orient Express Rugs are drawn by hand on grid paper and may take weeks or even months to complete. Each square in the grid represents one knot in the finished rug.

Some designs are almost 100 years old. Other, older designs must be redrawn and recolored. Some designs are modernized with different colors or altered with different styles.

The design process itself consists of several steps and requires many people. First, the designers draw the designs. Then copiers must copy the designs. Colorists color these master copies, and then another set of copiers match the designs and colors on master designs.

   Looms are built to accommodate the size of the rug, and the warp is applied. The warp of the rug is its "skeleton" and consists of many fibers (usually cotton) parallel to one another.

The master weavers will knot these fibers by hand according to the rug design. A 6' x 9' rug, for example, will require 196 knots per square inch -- three people working 12 hours per day for 6-8 weeks.

Master weavers tie each knot twice on the looms, switching from front to back.

Once all the knots have been tied, they must be pushed into place so they are straight along the warp.

If the sides of the rug are skewed, they must be pulled for the rug to assume its correct shape.

Stray tufts from woven threads are sheared away.

The rug is washed again. 

dried in the sun

and stretched 

and then the last knots at the ends tied for the fringe, or selvage.

Then weavers use a tool to "open the pile" --  combing it to soften it and make it easy to wash.

The rug again is washed several times and dried in the sun.

In the end, the customer joins this ancient journey by purchasing the rug and keeping the product of generations of master weavers as an heirloom for his or her own children and grandchildren. An Orient Express Rug so lovingly crafted offers its owner relaxed elegance, distinctive formality, and individual expression of style and comfort for many lifetimes.