How Our Rugs Are Made

Every Jubi rug is made by hand — by master artisans in Bhadohi, India, using constructions that require skilled human work at every stage of production. Hand-knotted, hand-tufted, and hand-loomed: three distinct methods, each with its own process, its own craft requirements, and its own result. What they share is that no machine can replicate what the artisan's hand produces in any of them.

Bhadohi: Where Jubi Rugs Are Made

Bhadohi is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India that has been a center of handmade rug production for generations. The craft knowledge concentrated in Bhadohi — the understanding of how wool behaves under different constructions, how pile height affects color perception, how a complex design translates from paper to woven surface — is the product of that history. The artisans we work with have spent careers developing expertise that cannot be acquired quickly and cannot be replicated by automated production.

Our relationship with the artisans in Bhadohi is a genuine production partnership. Jubi designs are developed in New York and refined in collaboration with the people who will make them — because the constraints and possibilities of the craft are part of making better designs. The result is a collection that reflects both perspectives: the contemporary visual sensibility of a New York studio and the material expertise of artisans who understand what handwoven wool can do.

How Each Construction Works

Hand-Knotted

In hand-knotted construction, an artisan ties individual knots — each one by hand — across a vertical warp stretched on a loom. The knot count per square inch determines the pile density and the resolution of the pattern: a higher knot count produces a finer, more precise surface. A single artisan working on a hand-knotted rug ties thousands of knots per day; a complex piece at high knot density can take months to complete. The result is the most durable and dimensionally precise handwoven rug construction available — a surface that holds its structure, color, and pattern integrity for decades under regular use.

Hand-Tufted

In hand-tufted construction, an artisan uses a tufting tool to push loops of wool through a stretched backing material, working through the design tuft by tuft. The artisan controls the pile height, the density, and the pattern distribution by hand — the tool extends reach and speed but the placement of every tuft is a skilled decision. Hand-tufting allows a wider range of pile heights and more complex color distribution than hand-knotting, and produces a plush, substantial surface with a visual richness that the artisan's consistent hand is directly responsible for.

Hand-Loomed

In hand-loomed construction, an artisan works on a traditional loom, passing the weft thread through the warp by hand with each row. The process is slower and more labor-intensive than machine weaving; the artisan manages the tension, the pattern, and the consistency of the weave at every pass. The result is a flat to low-pile surface with a textile-like quality — the warmest and most fabric-like of the constructions, with a softness underfoot that pile constructions approach differently.

What Handmade Means for How a Rug Wears

A handmade rug in premium New Zealand wool develops differently under use than a machine-made rug does. The natural variation in handwoven pile — the slight differences in tuft height, the dimensional quality of individually tied knots — creates a surface that develops character over time rather than simply wearing down. Colors deepen slightly with use as the pile settles. The surface develops a patina that makes a well-used handmade rug look more considered rather than less. This is the specific quality that makes handwoven wool rugs worth the investment — they are not objects that degrade toward replacement but objects that improve toward permanence.

For more on construction types and how to choose between them, see types of rugs and rugs by construction. For the material story, see why New Zealand wool.