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Making a Braided, Rag Rug from Scratch
By Brenda Reeves
When you are decorating your kitchen, you may want to consider softening the floor with a soft carpet, and the perfect type of rug for this purpose is a rag rug. If you were to go out and purchase a rag rug, you would find that they can be very expensive, when in fact a rag rug is one of the simplest types of rugs to create on your own. Rag rugs are one of the more popular folk art projects that you can take on, and it is a perfect addition for just about any kitchen. There is also something very satisfying about making something very useful for your kitchen and very beautiful as well. Add to that the fact that you are recycling and reusing material that you would normally discard , and it is a project that you can feel good about too. Bags of Rags
When you are looking for material to use for your rug, you can incorporate just about anything at all into your new kitchen rug. You can reuse material from old clothing that you cut into strips, and just about any type of clothing will work from blue jeans to tee shirts. If you do not have any old material around your house to use, you can always head to the thrift store and buy old clothing for pennies on the dollar. Look at yard sales for the one dollar bag of clothes. You really do not need to worry about the colors of your clothing if you want your rag rug to be variegated. The great thing about a rag rug is that it is comfortable to stand on, and it goes with just about any decor imaginable. But if you prefer to stick with the color palette in your kitchen, you can certainly limit your material selections. Making Rag Strips
Constructing a rag rug is very straightforward, because it is simply a long braid coiled and sewn together. You can fashion the rug in a circle, though the traditional shape is an oval. For more modern applications you can construct your carpet in a square or just about any other shape that you wish. Begin by cutting strips of material into two inch wide strips, or three inch wide strips if the material is particularly thin. By the same token, if your material is very thick, you can cut it thinner than two inches. The goal is to have your material thickness be fairly even regardless of the weight of the material. Braiding the Strips
When you are making your strips to braid, you will sew them together with diagonal seams at the end of each length of material. You can sew long strips together and roll them into a ball in preparation for braiding, or you can sew the strips together as you braid your carpet. Both methods yield the same result, so whichever you find more convenient will work just fine. Start with three strips of material and tie the ends together. Loop them over a door knob and start braiding. Try to keep the material pulled tightly as you braid, and just like knitting, try to keep the tension uniform as you braid. As you reach the end of a strip, sew the next length of material to the end of it using a diagonal seam. This way you can trim the excess material and the seam will not show in your finished rug. Assembling the Rug
After you have a substantial length of chain, you can begin to shape it into a rug and see if it is long enough. Begin by laying one end of the chain flat on the floor and then curl the chain around to form a circle. Continue forming concentric circles until you run out of chain. If the rug is big enough, then you can get a darning needle and start to sew the braided strips together. If the rug is not large enough, you can keep braiding. You can form your braid into an oval rug by laying down a straight piece of braid four to eight inches long depending on the size of your carpet. Then as you sew the lengths of braids together, you can add a few extra stitches as you reach each end of the oval to add strength to the rug. Just as when you were braiding, you do not want to pull your thread too tight, because it will bunch the braid. When you are done, tie off your stitching and trim any straggling material or thread, and your new rug is ready to use. Photo credit to stiina .
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I've made many braided rugs in my days when the children were little. A great craft and fun way to recycle fabric pieces. I love the finished look, too. Thanks Brenda for this very nice intel.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I'm glad you enjoyed reading it and happy to know that it brought back pleasant memories. Best wishes,
Brenda
The copyright for this content entitled "Making a Braided, Rag Rug from Scratch " has been specified by the contributor as:
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This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
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