How to Make Your Own Quick, Rustic, Rip & Sew Rag Rug

Old Sheets, Curtains or Any other material that is at least 1'x 2"
(The materials should be the same approximate weight and thickness.)
Scissors
Upholstery Needles
Heavy thread or Crochet thread
Small crochet needle

In other craft instructions of this kind the first step is almost always, 'Decide what size you want your rug'. But you may decide halfway through this process to make several smaller rugs or one huge rug.

1 With your scissors make a snip on the shortest side of your material every inch. Make sure that the cuts are straight.

2 Here's the fun part. After making your snips rip the material into strips. Keep the strips organized by color. You don't have to rip all the material at this time but rip a few strips of each color or design.

3 Now, thinking only of the background color or dominant color of the material, decide what order you want that color to appear. You can arrange your rug so that each color contrasts the next or blend in a more gradual style depending on your taste.

4 Using one strip of each color sew the short ends together. Make three. Sew a small hem in one end of each of your three long strips. Lay the hemmed ends on top of each other, using your upholstery needle and doily thread, sew them together securely. Without cutting your doily thread crochet a chain of approximately six inches. Lock the end of your chain leaving enough extra thread to sew this end to your three strips.

5 Select a door and place the loop you have made over a doorknob. You can now begin braiding the strips. Braid up to six inches of the end of your strips.

6 Remove the loop from the doorknob. Crochet another loop and attach it to the braid at least four inches above where you stopped braiding.

7 Make three more strips as described in step 4. No hem is needed for these strips, as you will be sewing them to the end of your braided strips.

8 Use your new loop to reattach to the door.

9 When you have several yards of braid you may want to start assembling the rug to make it more manageable. Remember that you need to leave enough braided length to reach from the floor to your doorknob.

10 There are several options now. You may want to sew shorter strips together leaving raveled. Loop them for a zigzag affect, a round rug or an oval rug. (You will find the math for the oval rug in the tips section.) Using your upholstery needle begin sewing it together.

11 When you have the rug assembled to within a few inches of the desired size, cut and hem the ends. Finish the braid and sewing making sure to secure the end with extra care.

12 Lay the rug on its face at this point and sew it again for added strength.

Tips

1 For a more finished look cut your strips into 1 ½" strips and sew them into tubes. Sew one end closed first, inserting a strong 3' length of cording into the end to pull it through. This will allow you to easily turn the tubes right side out as you sew.

2. Make sure to braid your strips together tightly for added strength, improved appearance and durability.

3. As you braid the ends of your strips can become tangled making knots. It is advisable to untangle these ends after every few inches of braiding.

4. If you have chosen the rustic look you will have many threads sticking up that you may want to trim off. This can be accomplished using scissors or you can run a dog hair clipper over the rug.

5. Spot cleaning - Even small braided rugs can be very heavy and hard to clean. Dampen the stain with a 50/50 mix of hot water and lemon juice (for really tough stains, add a dash of Cream of Tartar). Cover the spot with shaving cream; Use a scrub brush to lift the stain. Rinse the scrub brush and allow the rug to sit for at least half an hour. Using clean water, dampen the stain again with warm water and blot with a clean towel.

6. For the oval rug, measure the result of your braid. As an example let's say that you want a rug that is 2' x 5'. If your braid is ½" wide you will need the center of your rug to be 3 feet long. Here is the math: rug length x braid length - rug width x braid width = center measurement.

Difficulty

Easy - Moderate