This is a re-post from a previous date as I am re-arranging my website. Thanks for your understanding.
I am currently reviving an old project, the making of rag rugs. I am the proud owner of several very large rag rugs made many years ago by my sweet mother-in-law. She taught me how to make these rugs and over the years I have saved or bought old used sheets specifically for this purpose. However – like you – they were in the pile of ” I really want to craft – but who has the time”. When I lost my job this winter, I suddenly had the time and my youngest son, to my surprise, had requested one such rug for his apartment. I had to remind myself of this process – and I am happy to share with you some tutorials on this process. Let me just say this about rag rugs from my perspective:
- these are rags…. anything will work, I use sheets. My personal opinion is that the fabric weight should be similar, in other words don’t mix sheets (cotton) with polyester. These rags can be sheets, pillow cases, old clothing (shirts, dresses etc), t-shirts, blankets… anything that you might throw away
- these are rags…. perfection is NOT necessary – the beauty is that these are imperfect, you are going to walk on them any way
- these are rags….many tutorials will tell you to “cut” the strips. I just tear them – they are not equal in size and yes they have STRINGS! Just trim them when you are done – relax, this is supposed to be fun
- these are rags.. some tutorials suggest that you do not need to sew the strips together, but rather weave them together – this works, I just don’t like how it looks. I used to sew the strips together, but that takes too much time -so I have used fabric glue
- these are rags….the beauty here is that if you don’t like how it looks or how it is laying out…. take it out and start over! I have done just that and since this is a fast process, you will feel better with the finished product.
Here are a couple of pictures of the current rug I am working on.
I use a size K crochet hook. You can use any large size hook. The one I am making right now is oval – but you can make them round as well. I have also included a couple of YouTube videos below. I learned a few new techniques while researching today. Have fun!