r paper rags, the cost of material for cotton rugs would still be
very trifling. Suitable woolen rags from the mills sell for
twenty-five cents per pound. Tailors' and dressmakers' cuttings are
much cheaper, and very advantageous arrangements can be made with
large establishments if one is prepared to take all they have to
offer.

One difficulty with woolen rags from tailoring establishments is in
the sombreness of the colours; but much can be done by judicious
sorting and sewing of the rags, for it is astonishing how bits of
every conceivable colour will melt together when brought into a mixed
mass; also if they are woven upon a red warp the effect is brightened.

Having secured materials of different kinds, the next step is in the
cutting and sewing, and here also new methods must step in.

The old-fashioned way of sewing carpet rags--that is, simply _tacking_
them together with a large needle and coarse thread--will not answer
at all in this new development of rug making. The filling must be
smooth, without lumps or rag ends, and the joinings absolutely fast
and fairly inconspicuous. Some of the new rags from cotton or woolen
mills come in pieces from a quarter to a half-yard in length and the
usual width of the cloth. These can be sewed together on the sewing
machine, lapping and basting them before sewing. They should lap from
a quarter to a half inch and have two sewings, one at either edge of
the lap. If sewed in this way they can afterward be torn into strips,
using the scissors to cut across seams. It can be performed very
speedily when one is accustomed to it, and is absolutely secure, so
that no rag ends can ever be seen in the finished weaving.

If the cloth pieces which are to be used for rags are not wide enough
to sew on the sewing machine, they should be lapped and sewed by hand
in the same way, unless they happen to have selvedge ends, in which
case they should by all means be strongly overhanded. This makes the
best possible joining, as it is no thicker than the rest of the rag
filling, and consequently gives an even surface. Good sewing is the
first step toward making good and workmanlike rugs.

Whenever the rags can be torn instead of cut, it is preferable, as it
secures uniform width. The width, of course, must vary according to
the quality of cloth and weight desired in the rug. A certain weight
is necessary to make it lie smoothly, as a light rug will not stay in
place on the floor. In ordina