Bohemian Braid Rugs

The Bohemian braid rugs are likely the most surprising of the large rag rug family. Though made with only light cotton fabrics, they develop a stiff and sturdy texture, which has people thinking that there is some sort of artificial stiffener inside.

I first wrote about the Bohemian braids in 1986 (see Bohemian Braid Rugs for the Beginner). I’d seen an old rag rug made with the traditional Bohemian braid in the late 1970s and experimented off and on for years to recreate the texture. Most baffling was the knot, which appears between the stitches.

The oral history of that original rug included the fact that the woman who had made it hailed from Bohemian, and was living in Nebraska in the late 1800s. With the Victorian era anglo-centric attitude, people had referred to her rugs as the “beggar’s braid” but I just couldn’t use that term for such a wonderful method. I suspect that the technique originated in eastern Europe, but lacking more than the one example, that is, at best, a guess.

The characteristic texture of the Bohemian braids is a radiating basketweave on the front (nearly identical to the flat wrap rugs) but the back side appears to be braided. During my experiments, I found a way to create that very texture, but there was no knot between the stitches like the old rug. This technique I denominated as the “modern” Bohemian braid, since I have not seen an example of it that predates my written instructions. The serendipity of the discovery of the modern Bohemian braid is that it can be used with yarns or threads, where the traditional version cannot. I’ve used the modern Bohemian braid with embroidery threads to create miniature baskets and woolen fabric to create large rugs.

The key to identifying a Bohemian braid rug is the front and back texture differences (see photos at top of page). That distinguishes them from flat wrap rugs, which have an identical basketweave texture on both sides. But to tell the difference between a “modern” and “traditional Bohemian braid rugs, one has to look closely at the edge of the rug. A modern Bohemian braid will show two distinct strands between stitches at the edge. A traditional Bohemian braid will show a single strand with a knot in it between stitches at the edge.

TOOLS
The traditional Bohemian braid uses short strips (3 to 5 feet) of fabric and a notched toothbrush handle, button hook or crochet hook. For modern day rugmakers, a crochet hooks is by far the easiest tool to find. Hook size is not important, just so long as it is large enough to grab the fabric strip. (Most of the time a size K is fine.)

Publications in our catalog:

Rugmaker's Handbook No. 6: The Lost Bohemian & Swedish Braids; Rugs, Baskets & Variations.......$24.95