How to Make a Floor Rug Using Upholstery Samples for Beginners

My husband has a favorite rug in front of his bedroom dresser. It was a gift from my mom many Christmas's ago. It is worn and tattered and stained from years of use. I looked at buying him a new rug and couldn't believe the prices. I then remembered the sturdy upholstery samples I had purchased at a yard sale a few summer's ago. I removed the staples from the samples and had hubby pick his favorites then went to work. This rug cost me just over $3.00 and a few hours of my time to make. I found Wonder Under on sale at Walmart for $1.17 a yard and a found a 1and1/4 yard piece of canvas cloth for just over 2.00. (Later I found I already had a large piece of canvas so check your stash of materials before shopping.) Any medium to heavy weight material will do.

To make this simple and easy floor cloth/rug you will need the following items:

A variety of Upholstery Samples

A sheet of medium to heavy weight Canvas Cloth

Batting or Fleece (optional)

Sewing Machine

Iron and Ironing Board

Wonder Under (fusible webbing)

Matching thread

Begin by setting up your ironing board and plugging in your iron. Next check your bobbin thread and be sure you have enough of the color of thread you have decided upon for both bottom and top threads.

Cutting & Design

First you will need to measure the rug you wish to replace or determine the size of rug you wish to make. I measured the rug I will be replacing and it was 20"X30" in size. I cut my canvas to 22"X32". I then had to cut off the section of the upholstery samples that has a paper backing glued to it with the name and number of the design. I set these aside to save for a future craft project. I then folded over a 1/4 inch seam allowance all around each upholstery piece and ironed, this created a sewing guide for me to follow. Next, lay your canvas cloth on the floor and lay out the sample pieces on top until you find a pleasing pattern and the canvas is covered. Once you have your layout determined you can pin the rug top pieces together or do like I did and just carry two sections at a time to the sewing machine. My rug required two rows of 4 upholstery samples.

Sewing

To start sew two pieces together and then another two. Before sewing the two sections together go to your ironing board and iron the seams flat. Now hold the two sections together front to front and align the center seams, sew together and once finished you should have a block of 4 sections that meet perfectly in the middle. Do these same steps again until you have all pieces sewn together remembering to iron seams flat, this really does help. I wanted this floor cloth rug to have a cushy feel to it but did not have any quilting batting. I then remembered I had a large piece of fleece left over from another project. I cut out a piece of fleece the same size as my canvas, 22"X32".

Wonder Under

Wonder Under or fusible webbing is a great item to have. Now I had to either find those straight pins I had misplaced or I could use the wonder under to hold my layers in place. I cut a couple squares of fusible webbing about as big as my hand and after laying the canvas cloth over my ironing board I placed the wonder under down in the middle of the cloth and then the fleece on top. Once I had my corners and edges even I peeled back enough of the fleece to uncover the wonder under. Now follow product directions to fuse the wonder under to the cotton canvas. Once cool lift the paper to expose the glue and carefully fold the fleece over it. Iron the center of the fleece to fuse it to the canvas. Now do the same with the rug top. Think of it this way, you are creating a sandwich with the fleece in the middle. This is how I eliminated having to use straight pins. I usually bend them or poke myself or just can't find them. As my rug isn't too big to handle I decided not to add extra fusible webbing around the edges. Do what you feel comfortable with and keep in mind if you choose to use pins it is best to pin straight into the garment seam and not along the edge as then if you forget a pin the sewing machine needle should sew right over it.

Quilting

Now you are ready to sew all pieces together. I started at the center and worked my way out using the regular stitch and a zigzag stitch. I also tried out a few decorative stitches while I was at it. Work slowly and keep in mind if your rug/floor cloth is much bigger you will need to use more fusible webbing to help keep the whole thing straight. You could also do the quilting by hand. I wanted it done in one day so chose to use my sewing machine.

Binding

You will now need to choose a binding for your rug to give it that finished touch. I chose to use the canvas cloth as the binding. I cut two 3" strips at 26" length and two 3" strips at 36" length. The easiest way I found to do this was to use my ironing board. I folded over each long side of raw edge and ironed it. Once both sides were done I folded the whole piece in half lengthwise and ironed again. This gave me a matching binding for my floor cloth. You will need to make 4 strips like this. Then lay your rug on the ironing board and place the edge inside the binding. Fold each end in to create a clean edge and fuse down using wonder under and your iron. I did the two 22" ends first and then the long ends overlapping the short ends. I started fusing from the middle of the seam outwards to the edges. Do both sides, top and bottom to ensure binding will stay in place as you are sewing. Once you are done with this step you are ready to return to the sewing machine.

Finishing

Set your sewing machine on a wide zigzag stitch. Starting at one corner line the feed up so that the zigzag stitches will overlap the binding and the floor cloth top. Begin sewing and sew all the way to the opposite end of this first side being careful that the folded edges are inside the binding. Do this on all four sides. Cut all the trailing loose ends and then choose another zigzag stitch or a decorative stitch for the next step. I chose a decorative stitch. Start in the middle of one of the corners of the floor cloth binding. Sew down the middle of the binding from one end to the other. Stop when the needle is in the cloth in the middle of the next corner. Turn your cloth and continue sewing down the middle of the binding along the next length. Continue this step until you reach the corner that you started at and finish as close to where you started as you can.

You now have a beautiful new floor cloth. This rug will only be safe to use on carpeted flooring as the canvas cloth may be slick and the floor cloth may slide. If you wish to make one to use on wood or tile flooring place a rubber mat under the floor cloth to keep it from moving (the kind you buy for lining kitchen cabinets).

This rug will have to be dry cleaned or washed in cold water and hung to dry as recommended on the paper backing on the upholstery samples.

Alternative Materials

An alternative recycled backing you could use would be denim material. The entire rug could be made of denim (those jeans they've outgrown) for a teens bedroom or for the mudroom entryway. Denim is sturdy and could be thrown in the washer and dryer.