Fringes are almost always the first area on an Oriental or Persian handmade carpet or rug that will show signs of wear. The fringe is simply an extension to the foundation the the warp and weft base and run though the entire carpet, used to weave each wool or silk knot around. When the weaving process is complete, the piece is cut from the loom and the excess warp strands are knotted and finished – creating the fringe or ‘tassel’ as it is commonly known.
When the fringes begin to fray, often they come loose first from the stopping stitch used to hold down the knots onto the piece. This stopping stitch is notorious for coming loose, allowing the knots previously held in place to come loose and erode the pile of the rug from each end.
It is essential that fraying ends and fringes are attended to quickly. It is much easier to apply a new stopping stitch, identical to what would originally been used, than it is to re-build and re-weave sections of the end which have been allowed to deteriorate and come apart.
The process we refer to is called a ‘stop-end’ or a ‘level and secure’ repair, which will create a new fringed end and stop any further deterioration. This is a relatively simple and straightforward process and we conduct this repair many times everyday for our clients.