A West Philly company has set out to prove that art is all around us even underfoot.Tuft the World is a textiles supplier that helped launch the trend of rug tufting, which refers to making a rug with a “gun” that punches yarn through a backing material in the form of a loop. The company is one of the latest additions to the Bok Building, where it will offer an expanded selection of classes that explore tufting, crochet, embroidery and screen printing.
“We had long wanted to have a locally centered space where people can come, take classes, do more advanced classes for people who’ve already started and then kind of expand it out into something of a big fibers workshop, because a lot of folks who love tufting also love screen printing or crochet or sewing, as we all do,” Tuft the World co-owner Tiernan Alexander said. “We’re all craft heads. And so we’re kind of using tufting as the gateway drug to a life of craft.”
Tuft the World will join over 250 artists and businesses that inhabit the 340,000-square-foot structure in South Philly. On Friday, April 21, the company will officially launch its new home at the Bok Building at 1901 S. 9th St. with an open house from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Staff will be on hand to provide demonstrations.
Rug tufting allows artists to pick colors and essentially draw with the tufting gun to make their desired shapes and patterns. It’s grown especially popular on social media, leading some to dub tufting the “TikTok design trend of COVID-19.”
“Once you start doing it, it’s like this really enjoyable, almost addictive thing, just to have such an instant ability to make something that looks so good,” Alexander said. “The process is really fun. It’s really satisfying. And I want to say this in the best way, because I think there’s so many incredibly creative people, but it looks good even when you’re a beginner. Like it’s an extremely forgiving art medium … It’s so easy to make something genuinely beautiful.”
