Rug Rage

Rug Rage

Hi my name is Cristina Heilbron and I make rugs.

I am a rising junior at Babson College concentrating in marketing and technology, entrepreneurship, and design (TED). I am originally from Colombia but moved to Florida 10 years ago. I have always considered myself a creative - easily teaching myself different art mediums from a young age and being captivated by all things creative. I have recently been drawn to textile arts and started selling and making my own rugs (@rugrage | Instagram).

Rug Rage is a creative outlet that allows me to experiment in a new medium. I make customized rugs, tufted mirror frames, and wall rugs. The idea to start this venture stems back to the summer of 2020 where I was first introduced to tufting guns and rug making through TikTok. I was skeptical about buying all the tools right off the bat so I started making rugs by hand. Here are a few examples of my hand-tufted rugs:

After making three rugs and countless hours making them, I realized it was worth the investment so I purchased a tufting gun. I went from spending a week working on a rug to being able to make one in a day.

When I came back to Babson I learned about the Weissman Foundry’s Individual Project Grant and figured I would apply. This grant gave me the opportunity to practice my craft by allowing me to purchase materials like carpet glue, trimmers, and rug making cloth. With these materials, I made a rug to thank the Foundry and a rug to welcome Roger the Babson dog to campus. Here are the rugs I made with the tufting gun and grant materials:

Since posting these rugs on social media, I received a lot of support from the Babson community and hope to use this summer as an opportunity to scale my venture and continue experimenting.

If you are interested in a rug to decorate your dorm room, I have commissions open for Fall 2021 :)

Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @rugrage.

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**This post is made in conjunction with the Foundry’s Personal Project Grants. They received a grant that enabled this project to move forward. If you’d like to learn more about the program, please visit our info-page here.