#ragrugs

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Leah Faye Cooper, “Artist Mae Colburn Talks Archiving her Grandmother’s Vintage Skirt Collection,” Vogue.com, March 26, 2025. 

Vogue: What inspired you to make the archive public?

Me: [My mom and I] got really excited about understanding the skirts within a historical arc, and the archive offers a glimpse into the clothing history of the second half of the 20th century. The wool industry has transformed tremendously; you really can’t find this high-quality wool in this many colors and patterns anymore. So there’s a lot of history there that’s exciting to think and talk about and share with people, and I’ve also found that this is a really wonderful way for people to think about their own wardrobes and all the things that fill the nooks and crannies of their basements, garages, and closets.

Exploring the politics of gender and skirts is interesting to me too. I’ve really enjoyed conversations that have emerged as I’ve been sharing this story with women in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who remember this pivot from having to wear skirts in most public settings to wearing pants. Wearing pants to work for the first time is a day that they remember almost like they remember what they wore on their wedding day. It’s a really important moment.

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Started rag rug blog to document my own handweaving, March 2021. 

The blog includes photos of each rag rug I have woven, as well as reflective notes written once or twice a year. It comes several years after I purchased my first floor loom, and one year after renting my first studio. Making this blog marked my growing comfort at the loom and interest in connecting with other weavers. 

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Presented the collection of 632 wool skirts amassed by my grandma at the 4th annual Artefacta conference at the University of Helsinki, Finland, February 13-14, 2025. I made a poster presentation titled 632 wool skirts in motion and, together with friends, distributed hundreds of photographs of skirts in the collection and a running list of ideas for what to do with the skirts, copied below.

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Created Wool Skirts website, summer 2024.

I wonder now, having photographed every skirt, how my grandma visualized the collection, and how she experienced it over all those years. I wonder if she went down to her basement to thumb through the wool skirts, if she emptied out boxes on her floor to sort through them, if she had favorites, and which skirts those were. I wonder if she ever wished to see the skirts on models, or racks, or walls, or illustrated in a book. I wonder if she ever speculated about how many skirts she had, and how she would react if she found out she had 632. She expressed amazement with her eyes wide and mouth open. Wow. I remember this. She passed away in 2022. 

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With Mariah Smith, created 1/2 Flex, the first-ever exhibition hosted by Rag Rug Study Group. The exhibition featured fresh-off-the-loom rag rugs by artist Francesca Martinazzi, who traveled from Italy, Mariah and myself. We hosted an opening party and facilitated an evening conversation about the prehistoric origins of Francesca’s woven poem, Monte Altissimo. The exhibition was installed in Mariah’s Brooklyn bedroom, which we transformed into a gallery September 6-8, 2024. 

> Installation view of Francesca Martinazzi's Monte Altissimo.

> Installation view of Mariah Smith's 7 Rugs (?).

> Installation view of Mae Colburn's Hypothetical Rugs.

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With Mariah Smith, started Rag Rug Study Group and hosted our first-ever Show and Tell. Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York. April 6, 2024.

> We invited people to bring work they have made or collected, and used the circle format to share first impressions and memories connected to each piece. We also documented each piece for our online archive.

Rag Rug Study Group is a research project that facilitates dialogue about textiles produced using worn, surplus, and discarded materials. We advocate an expansive definition of ‘rag rug’ that includes reworked textiles in all techniques including weaving, knitting, quilting, embroidery, crochet, mending, and sewing. We have a mailing list, host in-person events, and manage an online archive of the work we study.

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Excerpt from interview with artist Francesca Martinazzi, whose woven research combines the creation of rag rugs with the examination of prehistoric rock engravings found in her home region of Val Camonica in the province of Brescia, Italy. Francesca uses the name GRATA to describe her project, invoking a woven metal grate she found in her historic home-studio as well as the phrase essere grata, being grateful. > Mae Colburn, “GRATA.” VÄV (no. 1, 2024): 22-23. 

> Checkerboard rag rug by Francesca Martinazzi. Photo: Francesca Martinazzi

"I had already been weaving for some years when I learned about these engravings, and this discovery gave deeper meaning both to my work and to the place where I live. […] At Altopiano del Sole, or Plateau of the Sun, an area further up the mountain from my house […] archaeologists have found engravings that are difficult to interpret, but are thought to represent woven textiles. These have been cataloged in the archaeological record as rettangoli frangiati, or “fringed rectangles," and date to the Copper Age, about 3000 years BCE. 

> Francesca points to the Borno 1 engraving at Altopiano del Sole.

> Illustrations of Ossimo 8 (left) and Borno 1 (right).

I have mainly examined two of these fringed rectangles: Ossimo 8 and Borno 1. Borno 1 is special in that it illustrates a checkerboard pattern, which for a weaver is also the draw-down draft for plain weave. So, the decorative motif on Borno 1 is the intersection of two distinct groups of threads: the WARP and the WEFT. EXTRAORDINARY! In principio era l’ordito, or IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS THE WARP!”

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With Sharktooth and New York Textile Month, presented ‘beyond repair.’ This month-long event showcased the process of unraveling a worn-through rag rug from Sharktooth’s collection, transforming its composition, and weaving it anew at Common Loom. The event culminated in a celebration and viewing on September 30, 2023, at Sharktooth, 111 Grand Street, Brooklyn, New York. View a short video documenting the weaving process here, and read more on Sharktooth's Shop Notes.

After a rag rug’s warp has worn through, its fabric weft can often be salvaged and woven anew. This process extends the life of the materials and offers an intimate lens into the life of the original weaver. ‘beyond repair' invited us to consider themes of regeneration, transformation, and renewal alongside the ethics of stewardship, care, and repair.