In this four-day long rug hooking course, you will learn all the skills required to make hand hooked textiles, from recycled clothing and fabrics. The technique traditionally used to create rugs lends itself to other kinds of home textiles and here your tutor will teach all the steps required to make a cushion with a hooked appliqué motif of your own design. As your tutor does for many of his own pieces, you will start by making a collage of your own inspiration which will serve as the design for your hooked piece.

Day One Your tutor will start with a presentation of his own work and how he came to rug hooking, followed by an explanation of how he uses collage to inform his designs. You will start to experiment with collaging your own designs with materials you have brought with you. The techniques and processes of rug hooking will be explained. Once designs are complete, you will be shown how to scale them up and draw them onto the hessian backing.

Days Two and Three On the next two days, you will spend your time working on your own hooked piece. Your tutor will talk about selecting clothes and fabric and how to prepare them. You will choose your materials and colours and start to strip up fabrics. Your tutor will demonstrate different methods that can be used to create visual effects.

Day Four On the final day, you will spend your time finishing up your piece and appliquéing it onto the cushion backing and sewing up the cushion. Your tutor will teach the different techniques for finishing pieces to be rugs or wall hangings, as well as turning them into cushions.

Included

All materials required for hooking and the cushion backing will be supplied by your tutor. Your tutor will also supply the equipment, including the frames and hooks, cutting wheels and boards for use on the course.

What students need to bring

• You are encouraged to bring paper/or fabric collage materials of your own. These can include magazine cuttings, printed patterns, wrapping paper or plain coloured paper.
• You can also bring fabrics or clothes of your own that you would like to experiment with for tearing into strips and hooking (wool fabrics work best, although cotton, jersey and even silks work as well).

Additional information

Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).

Daily Timetable

Course teaching: 11am–5.15pm
Students arrive: 10.30am-11am (coffee optional)  
Morning teaching: 11am-1pm
Lunch break: 1pm-2pm (lunch is not included)
Afternoon teaching: 2pm-5.15pm (15 minute break, 3.30pm–3.45pm)
Teaching finishes: 5.15pm  
 

Short courses are open to anyone aged 18 and over. The course fee covers tuition and materials where stated. You will need to bring all other items listed under the ‘Materials to bring’ section.

Refreshments Coffee and tea are included in the course fee, but you will need to bring lunch with you to eat in the refreshments room. There are also plenty of other local venues to purchase food.

Access If you have any specific access needs, we will need to know about your access requirements in advance. Please tell us about your needs in confidence by emailing: [email protected]

This venue has steps to the front reception, with limited access via a side gate to the ground floor. There is a small lift to higher floors or stairs.

Safety Short course students are required to sign a safety compliance form as part of West Dean Health and Safety regulations.

Refunds and cancellations Please refer to our terms & conditions below

Disclaimer The information given is accurate at the time of publication. However, West Dean College reserves the right to cancel or amend courses if circumstances require.

Terms & Conditions