People often ask me what hand-knotting really looks like. Not the finished rug, the actual process. So let me break it down simply. Hand-knotting happens on a vertical loom.Cotton threads (the warp) are stretched tight.The weaver sits in front of them, row by row. Each knot is tied by hand around two warp threads.The yarn […]
A hand knotted rug is made twice.Once on the loom.And once again in the wash. When a hand-knotted rug comes off the loom, it isn’t finished.It’s complete – but not yet revealed. Washing is not cleaning.It’s calibration. This is where:• the yarn softens• the knots settle• the structure evens out• and colours finally open up […]
What makes this collection truly one of a kind isn’t just the intent.It’s the way it was made. We worked with:• wool• silk• some pure silk pieces• select Mongolian cashmere Much of the yarn already existed in our system 30,000–40,000 kg of dyed yarn accumulated over time. Instead of standardising it, we experimented. Some yarns were:• used as-is• re-dyed• over-dyed• washed experimentally Design […]
Commissioning 250 rugs without orders isn’t just unusual.It’s risky. Every rug ties up capital.Every loom needs planning.Every decision affects dozens of families. We at Understorey knew this going in. But letting skilled weavers drift into lower-quality work or worse, leave the craft altogether felt like a bigger risk. Each loom supports 3-4 weavers on average.Multiply […]
Running a handmade rug business at scale comes with one big responsibility:Growth should never come at the cost of integrity. People sometimes imagine factories, machines, or automated systems when they hear we operate 1,200 looms and work with 3,500+ artisans. But the reality is very different.Everything still depends on people. Every loom belongs to a […]
We recently commissioned 250 hand-knotted rugs without any client orders in place. Not as a collection launch.Not as a marketing experiment.But as a responsibility. The past year has been tough on the industry.With 50% tariffs, high-end rugs became harder to sell, and demand slowed especially for finer qualities like 11/11 knotting. For us, that raised […]
I’ve spent my life around looms.Fourth generation. 1,200 looms. 3,500 artisans. Numbers I say with pride but lately, with growing concern. 📌 Here’s the reality:Our handicraft sector contributes 7% to India’s GDP and employs over 7 million artisans. Yet we’re facing a crisis: master weavers in their 60s and 70s are creating magic with their […]
A hand-knotted rug is one of the few luxury products where the biggest input isn’t energy or machinery, it’s human skill. And that’s exactly why the process is inherently sustainable. No mass production.No shortcuts.No industrial footprint. Just craft done at a pace that respects the material, the weaver, and the planet. 📌 Here’s what that actually […]
The Same Stadium, a Different Era Years later, the same client came back with another photograph. Same stadium.A completely different time. New cars.New crowds.New energy. This time, we made the rug in colour – still 9 × 6 feet, still 11/11 quality, still woven by the same level of master craftsmen. The detailing was intense:Every […]
We’ve been working with a client in Chicago for over 30 years.Like us, he comes from a multi-generation rug family.Craft runs in his blood. One day, he sent us an old black-and-white photograph of Wrigley Field – taken decades ago, when he was a child. No mood board.No design brief.Just one question: “Can you turn […]
