I know what you are thinking… why would I want to make anything no-sew???
But, hear me out:
These rugs go together so beautifully, are easy to make, are delightfully luscious under foot, and are made entirely out of up-cycled textiles. What’s not to love??
As you can probably tell by the pics above, I have not finished my lounge room size rug yet (it is getting close), but I have made a video tutorial where I make a mini rug to show you all the techniques.
You can check it out here:
And part 2 here:
For reference, this mini rug took me 1 hour start to finish, took 2 t-shirts, and measures 23cm in diameter.
I only go up to 6 strands in the video, but you can definitely go up to 8 on larger rugs.
I would absolutely love to hear about your rag rug experiences and see your creations, so if you have a go (or already have) please comment below, or snap some pics and hashtag them #SEW4BUB
As always, thanks for reading (watching)
Liz xx
This is great! I love that you don’t have to sew it together.
Me too! once it is done it is done 🙂
This is a really cool idea!!! I want to make one!
I watched your videos. I really like how you show the process, and the finished project is lovely. I’m not sure I have the patience for this, but I’m considering, because it would be amazing. I have some questions, though. For a larger rug would you increase to 6 after a round and then to 8 and continue with 8 until the last two rounds then decrease to 6 and then 4? What is the purpose of the increase/decrease? About how wide are your strips? What do you want to say about colors & patterns? I like the spiral effect in the sample. Thanks!
Hi Vivian, the purpose of the increase and decrease is to make the rug round, or else it will have a lumpy bit where you stopped, if you continue with the pattern of colours I use in the example then you should have the spiral pattern continue through your rug, however it is easier to use a few similar colours, as it is more forgiving if you have to make adjustments to keep the rug round. My strips are a couple of inches wide, I am not to specific with this, I just cut adult shirts the way the video shows and work with however wide they end up. Hope this helps – good luck with your rug 🙂
Do you alternate increasing and decreasing until you’ve reached the diameter you want? For instance you started with 4 strands then increased to 6, then decrease to 4, then increase to 6 and so on. This was a great tutorial!!
Hi Carolyn,
If you are going for a larger diameter, increase to 6, then to 8. Continue working with eight until the rug is as large as you want it then begin to decrease, down to 6 then to 4. The decreasing is just so the end blends in nicely when you finish up. Hope this helps
Cheers
Liz
I just posted on the youtube video but here would probably be better…I’m going to do this with my abundance of old t shirts but do you think it would be attainable with blue jeans?
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I can’t seem to get past a certain point in the mat before it starts puckering and wanting to make a basket. What am I doing wrong?
Hey Tamara, it is a tension problem. You can make your loops looser or braid through the same loop a couple of times so the outside braid is longer than the inside braid if you know what I mean 🙂