Rugs N Stuff owners look to foster creativity, confidence

Tyler Weston sees tufting’s potential to nurture creativity.

Tufting is the art of decorative rug design. Using an electric tool that resembles a cross between a sewing machine needle and a tattoo gun, tufters push yarn through the back of their canvas, tracing and eventually filling in an image from the reverse.

Weston and his partner Nichole Hammack of Turtle Creek first discovered the craft in 2021.

“We had nothing to do during covid,” Hammack said. “We’re both pretty artistic, so we tried it out, started doing commissioned work and eventually reached a point where we wanted to start teaching other people.”

The couple was getting yarn from the Tuft Love company in Colorado, where founder Geoff Wanamaker was seeking to get more people interested in tufting.

“He gave us the blueprints to start doing workshops,” Weston said.

Today, Weston and Hammack are nearing their one year anniversary at the current location for Rugs N Stuff, tucked away in Monroeville’s Garden City neighborhood. Before that, they were holding classes at the Monroeville Public Library.

“The library classes were instrumental to our growth,” Weston said. “We also started forming partnerships with local schools to bring workshops there.”

Rugs N Stuff now has a contract with Propel charter schools, has held workshops with children and adults on the autism spectrum, and has hosted three or four casual workshops at their Monroeville studio space. A one-person, four-hour, small frame session costs $95.

On Feb. 1, Paige Parshall of Wilkinsburg was wondering if she might have gotten in a little over her head, as she looked over her first few tufting lines in a rather complex tiger design.

“This class was a gift from my partner,” Parshall said. “We’ve done other craft things before, like stamp carving.”

Hammack is able to show newcomers the basics in about five minutes, and they are soon working on their own. The small Rugs N Stuff studio is decorated with examples of Hammack’s skill at tufting, with portraits of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker and actor Chadwick Boseman, a large piece featuring Scooby Doo and Shaggy and more.

Parshall didn’t have quite that level of confidence on her first try.

“I’m feel like it’s good that we have four hours to get done,” she said with a laugh. “But this is really interesting, and when it’s done I want to have it in my house forever.”

Weston said he hopes to nurture that same passion for art in younger people.

“We started out with this thinking it would be the hot new date-night thing for couples,” he said. “And we do like doing these workshops. And I’d like to one day have a warehouse making these rugs. But I’m really working to get some funding behind us to continue working with students and people on the spectrum.”

Having gotten into his share of trouble growing up, Weston said he recognizes the value in praising and nurturing creativity.

“If you can show someone their potential, or even if you’re just able to stop them from having a bad day that might snowball into something worse, that’s a beautiful thing,” he said.

For more, including upcoming workshops, see RugsNStuff.square.site.