THE FIRST TWO ALL-CANADIAN RUGS
We are delighted to announce our first two all-Canadian rugs. By all-Canadian we mean rugs made with wool sourced from Canadian sheep growers where it is harvested safely and humanely by a skilled shearer. We mean wool that is spun at a family-owned mill in New Brunswick that has been operating since 1857. We mean designed in Toronto by a firm that has been creating rugs for over 30 years (that’s us). And we mean handtufted by a manufacturer with decades of experience in Waterloo, Ontario.
These special rugs are destined for Canadian embassies, one in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and the other in Copenhagen, Denmark. Creative Matters has been working with Global Affairs Canada since 1990 to create rugs for diplomatic offices and residences around the world.
In 2019 Campaign for Wool Canada introduced us to Canadian wool. Prior to this opportunity, we have worked mostly with New Zealand wool for our handwoven floorcoverings made in India, and with Tibetan wool for our rugs handknotted in Nepal. In 2020 we released a capsule collection in collaboration with interior designer Sarah Richardson. Very different from each other, the three rugs - two in the handknotted construction and one handwoven in the sumac weave - demonstrated the suitability and versatility of Canadian wool. With this confidence, Creative Matters Partner Carol Sebert proposed Canadian wool and possibly Canadian production to Global Affairs for Abidjan and Copenhagen.
The rug for Copenhagen was handtufted at the Cabernet Carpets mill.
“The rugs for the embassies needed to be in the handtufted construction and because we did not have experience of Canadian wool in that method of construction, we tested the wool at the Cabernet Carpets mill in Waterloo. We found it successful for handtufting – sturdy enough to go through the tufting gun while producing a nice soft surface,” said Carol. Once assured of its suitability, Carol was able to confirm it would be possible to create an all-Canadian product from farm, to design, to production. Global Affairs agreed and the Campaign for Wool sourced the wool.
The almost-finished rug on the loom.
The rug for Abidjan is for a living room in the official residence. The interior designer at Global Affairs wrote to us, “The room is spacious and the ceiling has square motif details so I thought we can start with something that has a square pattern in a one-tone gradient towards the centre of the rug.” We offered a few design versions and the client selected a repeated light cream-coloured circle pattern with a gradation of tone from dark at the exterior to light. The circles are a loop pile with the surrounding gradation in cut pile.
A pre-production sample of the rug for Abidjan.
The artwork for the Abidjan rug.
The rug for Copenhagen is for the embassy chancery. A round rug with a geometric stripe, it is two-tone, with cut pile dark grey stripes on a cream-coloured loop background. The inspiration was some images the client had found that gave us clear direction of what would work. As usual we presented the client with a few design options.
Once the final design decisions were made, the wool was ordered, sent to the spinning mill and then to the handtufting mill. The rugs are currently in the finishing stage and will be shipped to their new homes in March.
“We are delighted to coordinate these Canadian companies to create a superior floorcovering,” said Carol. “I’m sure there will be more all-Canadian rugs because this is a beautiful product that is made ethically and in our own country.”