This workshop is now fully booked, to be added to the waitlist email

During the exhibition How to make a home, a lineup of extraordinary artists, makers and designers are sharing insights into their materials and methods through the ‘How to make a…’ workshop series.

First up is Vita Cochran with How to make a... Rag rug.

Rag rug making is a craft that developed out of necessity when fabric was a precious commodity, and rugs for the floor an expensive outlay. It is the perfect craft to revive today, as we send fabric waste to landfill at an alarming rate. In this workshop artist and maker Vita Cochran will teach you an accessible technique for making a hand-hooked rug from old woollen garments and fabric. Recycle materials in an innovative way to create a useful artwork which is original, textured and imbued with history.

By the end of the workshop, you will know more about the history of rag rug making, understand how to choose and prepare materials, the technique of hooking and will have started making a small sample rug, which you can finish at home.

Come as you are, all materials and lunch will be provided. This workshop is not suitable for people under 16 years old. 

Limited tickets for this half-day workshop are $120 and can be bought here. Spaces are limited and will sell out – be quick!

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Vita Cochran is a maker of contemporary textile objects such as handbags, embroideries and large scale textiles, which draw on craft, art, and fashion history. Cochran’s work has been collected by major museums in Aotearoa New Zealand, where she is represented by Anna Miles Gallery. Her exhibition After Paintings, 2019, showcased handmade rag rugs inspired by rugs seen in modernist paintings. Following in the footsteps of many of the matriarchs in her family, Vita has been making rag rugs for almost thirty years and has one in every room of her house.