Made by skilled hands
Your piece is made individually by artisans in India, with its construction stated on the product page.
Our story
A small workshop,
a chalk line, and wool
“Everything we sell was drawn by hand before it was made by hand. That is the whole business, really.”
The process
How a tufted piece takes shape
This is the process behind our hand-tufted pieces. Hand-woven and hand-knotted collections follow their own construction-specific rhythm.
- Drawing. The design is drawn onto a stretched cotton canvas in chalk — freehand, for every single rug. This is why no two pieces of the same design are quite identical.
- Dyeing. For our New Zealand wool pieces, fibre is dyed in small lots to the palette, then rested so the colour settles evenly.
- Tufting. An artisan works a hand-held tufting gun through the canvas from behind, one colour at a time.
- Sealing. The reverse is coated with latex to lock every tuft, and a cotton backing is stitched over it.
- Carving. The face is carved with hand shears. This is where the pattern gains relief — and where you can see whose hands did the work.
- Washing & sun-drying. Washed to open the pile, then dried in the open air.
- Binding. A hand-bound edge, and a final inspection before it is rolled.
Our people
India, and why it matters
We work with artisan makers in India. Their control of fibre, tension, edge and relief is what gives each construction its character.
Our commitments are straightforward:
- We work with adult artisans and keep a direct relationship with the workshop making our pieces.
- Nothing is mass-produced or warehoused. Your rug is started after you order it, which means no dead stock and no waste.
- We name the construction honestly. Hand tufted, hand woven and hand knotted are different processes, and each product page will state which one applies.
Small variations in line, edge, carving and pile are the visible trace of making by hand.
Original design
Designed with a point of view
Craftara Living develops motifs for its own collections, drawing on landscape, ritual objects, botanical forms and the character of fibre itself.
Some of those sources — a sun, an arch, a lotus, a contour line — have belonged to art and material culture for generations. We therefore avoid absolute claims that every element is unprecedented. Our responsibility is to develop each composition with its own proportions, palette and material expression.
A living review
Our catalogue is reviewed as it grows. If a credible similarity concern is raised, we will examine the exact references and revise or withdraw a design where that is the responsible course.
Our promise to you
Made with care,
shared with clarity
You should know who made your piece, what it is made from and what to expect before work begins. We keep those details clear from the start.
Details before we begin
We confirm your chosen size, colour, price and expected making window before the artisan starts your piece.
Made for your home
Every rug is made to order, and you can speak with us about the details before production begins.
—
Catalogue designs
—
Curated collections
Handmade
Across every collection
Made to order
Created after you choose
Worldwide
We ship anywhere
Come and see
The rug is started
after you order it
Which means you can change the size, the palette, or the shape right up until we draw the chalk line. Talk to us first — that is what we are here for.