HANDYMAID RUGMAKER - 4TH EDITION
Sarah Hartwell, 2022

Handymaid Wool Company of Barkerend Mills, Bradford. Barkerend Mills produced the wool and the base cloth/canvas which could be ordered as complete “Handymaid” rug outfits. The face of Handymaid was their "Rug Stylist" was Beryl Bradford and this 4th Edition of their catalogue features Vera Lynn demnstrating how easy it was to make a Handymaid rug. The company catered for both traditional rug hooking/punching and latch-hooking/knotting. Their "Supereze" method used a "Nifty" punch needle and uncut wool on “Supereze” base cloth; a “scientifically spaced” fine-gauge pre-printed squared canvas, rather than traditional hessian. This was worked on a rug frame to hold the canvas taut and the resulting loops could either be left as loops or could be cut (in which case the rug-maker would probably have used a backing to hold the tufts in place). Alternatively, the "Simple Way" used latch-hook knotting and “Simple Way” canvas, which was ordinary latch hook canvas. The company was dissolved in 1968.

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