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These two local guys want you to walk all over their work

In a rather snug room in Hazelwood two sort of unlikely suspects have latched on to one of the oldest surviving crafts in the world.

In a rather snug room in Hazelwood two sort of unlikely suspects have latched on to one of the oldest surviving crafts in the world.

"Probably the first five or six years I made rugs I gave them away," Jim Peregrin admits.

He and Dante Hunter are The Weaving Guys. It's a skill that was kind of in Jim's blood, his grandparents were weavers.

"They came over here in 1918 and in 1919 they got their first loom."

It was a piece of equipment that always fascinated him, but from a distance.

"We were never allowed to touch 'em, couldn't even sit there," he explains.

Finally in the 80's he decided to buy a loom and teach himself.

"This probably took me maybe four and a half five hours," he points out.

He met Dante in 2011 and together they've weaved together a pretty successful business.

"We make placemats, table runners, we make hallway runners."

And oddly enough they've never purchased a new piece of fabric.

"Last year we probably used 400 pair of blue jeans," Jim says.

They also kept one thousand pounds of socks and three thousand ties out of landfills.

"This is a shower curtain," Dante explains pulling out a beautiful rug.

"We use sheets and jeans and old channel bedspreads and drapes, bath towels," Jim adds.

They are talented men who want people to walk on their work.

"Like my rugs and Dante's rugs, they have a little nub in them every once in a while cause it feels good on your feet if you use it as a bath mat or next to your bed," Jim points out.

They also make memory rugs or runners.

"Like the lady who came here this weekend her husband passed away and she brought me all of his dress shirts and all of his blue jeans and I've already deconstructed them, cut them into strips. I'll sew them together and then I'll make each one of the kids a table runner."

They are beautiful pieces banged ou from forgotten swatches of fabric. A small or large home accessory that if made by The Weaving Guys is more than most people realize.

Rugs from The Weaving Guys start at about $20. You can see their stuff in person November 18th and 19th at

the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Rotary Club Fall Arts and Crafts Fair. It takes place at Lindbergh High School. They also have a Facebook page.

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