Each cc-tapis rug has a deepconnection to the people who made it: embracing artisanal production techniques means embracing the artisans that create our rugs.
cc-tapis produces handmade rugs, using techniques from all over the world: Hand-knotted, hand-loom and hand-tufted. Each technique carries with it it’s inherent cultural identity, enriching the company and the distinctiveness of the product. Making a rug takes time, expertise and meticulous attention to detail, intertwining the skills of different artisans who come together to create a unique piece of design.
Combining manual skills, culture and intellect, artisans transfer the value of traditional craftsmanship into contemporary design, helping combine and develop innovative ideas with hand-made techniques
Acting as a bridge between tradition and innovation,cc-tapisestablishes an emotional bond between artisans and the people who bring them into interior spaces.
DYEING
All materials are dyed by hand in the cc-tapis ateliers. Each material reacts to color differently, a characteristic which is explored in monochromatic rugs such as the Casellario Monocromo >> .
Natural materials absorb color uniquely creating soft tonal differences, discover our materials here >>
Each material is dyed specifically for the production of each rug, by our master of color.
The colors are based on the ARS color system and can be matched to other systems such as Pantone or RAL, cc-tapis can even match material or textile samples. No stock of dyed yarns is kept so it is advised to order rugs with the same colors destined for the same space at the same time.
STANDARD DYING
Yarns are dyed by hand, being fully immersed in the color-bath. Materials take the color a uniform way, depending on the fiber, with some materials adhering to the dye better than others.
A technique used to create a less uniform color, a color rich in texture and tone. To achieve this effect, the yarn is tied into knots and then immersed in the color baths. Due to the knots parts of the wool do not take the color 100% creating soft and delicate tones in the rugs pile. This effects of this technique can be seen in the Cinquecento collection by Studio Klass >>
TIGER DYING
The Tiger-dye dying process is an antique Tibetan method for dying Himalayan wool, which can be seen in the Venus Power Collection by Patricia Urquiola >>. The technique was developed by Tibetans making traditional Tiger Motifs, hence the name.
This technique is more sustainable than other dyeing techniques as only 1 hank of yarn is dyed to create different tones of the same color, using much less water. When the wool is placed in the color bath, it is only partially submersed. The submersed wool absorbs the color which delicately spreads up the fiber. This means that only some segments of the yarn are completely dyed, whilst the rest of the material picks-up softer tones, with some parts hardly receiving any color at all.
PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
HAND-KNOTTED
PRODUCTION TIME:
from 14 to 17 weeks, depending on the quality and size of the rug
Hand-knotting is an extremely complex and ancient production technique. A cultural skill utilized in rug-making countries around the world like the middle-east, India and China. cc-tapis produces hand-knotted rugs which are created in Nepal by Tibetan artisans with a Tibetan knot. The whole production process is managed at our Atelier, from the refining of the raw materials, to the dying, hand-knotting, finishings and the final washing, giving us total control and the freedom to create unique bespoke pieces. Every single knot is made by hand on a vertical loom holding a warp made of hundreds of stretched strands of cotton. The terminal ends of the warp will eventually form the fringes of the future rug, while the transversal threads are the weft and they insure firmness to the artifact. Knot by knot, a single rug can have up to 232.000 individual knots per square meter. This is why it takes months to produce a hand-knotted rug. Once the knotting is complete and the rug is cut from the loom, it undergoes extensive finishing processes, which include hand-cutting, shearing and embossing to define the design. After which the rugs are washed in recycled rainwater, stretched and laid in the Himalayan sun to dry.
HAND-LOOM
PRODUCTION TIME:
from 9 to 11 weeks, depending on the size of the rug
cc-tapis produces handloom rugs which are made in India by Indian artisans. Hand-loom craftsmanship is a precise manual weaving technique which allows for the production of high-quality rugs with a much shorter lead-time than hand-knotted rugs. The same fine materials are used such as Himalayan wool, pure silk, linen and aloe which are all processed and dyed by hand. Produced entirely by hand in India, handloom rugs are made on a horizontal loom, similar to those used to fabricate textiles, where each piece is woven by hand, line by line instead of knot by knot. Each hand-loom rug can be customized in every step of production, with a variety of finishings including high-pile, low-pile, loop-pile and flatweave; although due to the fact that the rug is produced line by line, there are some design limitations in the creation of diagonal or curved lines.
HAND-TUFTED
PRODUCTION TIME: from 6 to 14 weeks, depending on the size of the rug.
Catering for the needs of the contract market like interior designers and architects who require large quantities of high-quality bespoke rugs, hand-tufted rugs respond to any kind of demand and budget taking advantage of the know-how of cc-tapis. As the name suggests, hand-tufted rugs are made completely by hand, allowing the flexibility to use a variety of materials for residential and contract use. Raw materials are selected, measured and dyed specifically for each rug, guaranteeing no waste or excess materials. Once the materials have been prepared, expert craftsmen draw the design onto a canvas which is stretched across a vertical loom. They then begin the artistic process of following the design and tufting the materials by hand into the canvas, thread by thread, translating the original design into a physical rug. When complete, the rug is removed from the loom and another team of craftsmen begin finishing by hand adopting different techniques like sculpting, carving, trimming and shaving.
DISCOVER the cc-tapis SHORT FILM “THE FIRST”
A look into the life of our Tibetan associate and how our hand-knotted rugs are produced in Nepal.
