WELCOME CANADIAN WOOL COLLECTION

Origin is the undyed rug in the Canadian Wool Collection. Photo: Valerie Wilcox

When our President Carol Sebert met Matthew Rowe from Campaign for Wool - Canada at the opening of our new showroom in September 2019, little did we know that a year later we would be launching a capsule collection of rugs made from 100% Canadian wool.

Prior to this new mini collection, our wool floorcoverings have been made with tried-and-trusted New Zealand or Tibetan wool. Matthew persuaded Carol to give Canadian wool a try and organized a collaboration with renowned interior designer Sarah Richardson. The result, three gorgeous rugs! “It’s not a design collection per se, it’s really varied as the intention is to show the variety of textures and possibilities of Canadian wool,” said Carol.

THE WOOL

Natural Canadian wool from Canada’s oldest woollen mill.

“The mission of the Campaign for Wool is to knit together, pun intended, partners from every level of the value chain,” said Matthew who was also responsible for sourcing the wool. He went to Briggs & Little, Canada’s oldest woollen mill where the wool was carded and spun. From there it was shipped to our mill in India. Because the designs included a number of special effects, we chose one of our mills that has had much success with other handwoven and handknotted projects. We sent the designs and specifications to the mill while the Canadian wool was being shipped.

As with other Creative Matters creations, the rugs for this collection were produced under fair trade conditions, overseen by our fair trade NGO partner Label STEP.

THE ORIGIN RUG

The varying textures of the Origin rug. Photo: Valerie Wilcox.

“The Origin rug is all about the simple beauty of wool in its natural undyed state. Inspired by macramé, I wanted to create a rug that was textural and playful,” said our co-collaborator, interior designer, Sarah Richardson. From Sarah’s brief, Senior Designer Sandra Ciganic-McKinney created a rug design with a variety of textures and effects.

The Creative Matters design for the Origin rug.

Origin was woven on a horizontal loom using traditional weaving techniques and tools.

We chose to use the natural Canadian wool colour because we wanted texture alone to pay tribute to the beautiful fibre. The textures create so much interest, this rug could easily hang on the wall as an art piece.

THE HAMPTON RUG

The garden-inspired Hampton rug. Photo: Valerie Wilcox.

The second area rug was developed from a photo of the Hampton Court Palace Flower Festival. Sarah wanted to showcase the texture of the soumac style of carpet weaving. Soumac is a flat weave that appears somewhat as a knitted texture. Creative Matters Design Development Director Anna Panosyan prepared the rug design. While the bright sunny colours are generated from the photo, our design was transformed to a more graphic pattern.

The palette for the Hampton rug was chosen from the Creative Matters custom pom collection.

The Hampton rug mid-production at the mill in India.

THE HIGHLAND RUNNER

The Highland runner - an evocative depiction of mist, damp rich greens and purples. Photo: Valerie Wilcox.

A runner, this design was developed by Carol from a photo provided by Sarah that was reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands. “Rolling hills that recede to a hazy sky - gentle tones of blues and greens. And the haze reminds me of the constant rains in Scotland from when I visited as a child,” said Carol. Highland is handknotted in all cut pile.

The Creative Matters artwork for the Highland rug.

Detail of the handknotted Highland runner on a vertical loom.

“Once the three rugs were finished, the verdict from the mill was that the Canadian wool was soft and luxurious to work with although it did require some extra dye to achieve the intensity of colour we requested,” said Carol. All three designs are now available to buy on our website.

Thanks to the confidence we gained about the wool from this project, we can now offer Canadian wool as an exciting option for our clients.