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Rag Rug Get Rid Of All Those Scraps!!!

  • Completed Project: Rag Rug Get Rid Of All Those Scraps!!! Picture #1
  • Completed Project: Rag Rug Get Rid Of All Those Scraps!!! Picture #2
  • Completed Project: Rag Rug Get Rid Of All Those Scraps!!! Picture #3

from rags to awesomeness
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I recently moved countries from one side of the planet to the other, to say the least I couldn't bring everything with me and I had a whole sewing room to deal with. I decided to leave a rug behind and use up all my "crap" that I had lying around.
I used all my pieces of old projects and also my old clothing that I wasn't bringing with me and was too tired to give to charity.
My dog LOVES this piece and is also washable if ever it gets too dirty.

I split all my scraps into seperate bags according to colour for mine.

None of this tutorial is the traditional way.. parts of it are...this is the flail of the flair's way.

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  1. Step 1

    Step 1

    Take your fabric and measure about 3-4 inchs I used 3 but you could go bigger to make a fatter braid/plaid.

    **thicker fabric creates thicker braids I've used cotton in these examples which is pretty thin**

  2. Step 2

    Step 2

    Grab a bag and cut out loads and in whatever lengths you cut and I just stuffed em all in the bag for when I was ready to sew.

    **please note this is not picture of me or any bag that I used.. no ladies or bags were harmed in the taking of that picture... to my knowledge**


  3. Step 3

    Step 3

    The next step you can do to all your pieces of fabric as you go along or do them ahead of time if you're one of those "Type A" personalities. ;)

  4. Step 4

    Step 4

    Turning the end over, just give it about one inch cut or so this will happen to all sides EXCEPT for your THREE pieces your begin your braid/plait with.


  5. Step 5

    Step 5

    Should lookie like this-ish.

    Again about 2 inches or so in all.. you'll see why in step 13.

  6. Step 6

    Step 6

    Take your "starting" three pieces and stack them on each other.

  7. Step 7

    Step 7

    I put my finger in the middle of the fabric and scrunched up the sides to the middle.

  8. Step 8

    Step 8

    Like so.
    This is not THE way to do it if you want to just make a knot at the start of your braid/plait that's fine.. I just prefer this way myself.

  9. Step 9

    Step 9

    Now sew it over a few times.

  10. Step 10

    Step 10

    You can saftey pin this onto something.. or use my very conventional way by holding the starting bit in your teeth.

    (My sexy face just for you guys)

    Give it a few inchs of braiding/plaiting.

  11. Step 11

    Step 11

    Once you get it going you can use my other conventional way of holding it, which is in between my toes.

  12. Step 12

    Step 12

    If at any point you need to leave your rug, wooden clothespins are perfect to just peg and come back.

  13. Step 13

    Step 13

    Now when you reach the end of one of your strips stop a few inches so you can play.
    This is another good place to use a clothespin to stop it from unraveling.. I didn't have one at hand this time round.

  14. Step 14

    Step 14

    Take your next piece of fabric which also has the hole on the end.and place it on top of the old strip so the holes line up.

  15. Step 15

    Step 15

    Now your going to reach through the hole and pull through the tail of the new fabric.

  16. Step 16

    Step 16

    And pull it through and make sure it's nice and snug.

  17. Step 17

    Step 17

    This is how you'll extend all your pieces when it comes time and you'll just plait/braid the knot in. You won't really notice the knots when they're plaited/braided in.

  18. Step 18

    Step 18

    This is a little hard to explain so if the pictures don't make sense you can hear me babble away and attempt to show it on video here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yyN-qjCsGY

  19. Step 19

    Step 19

    Placing the start of your plat flat on a surface make your first round with and turn it upside down and sew it into place.

    There's no real method to the sewing madness. You can do whip stitch or you can go from one side back to the other side.. whatever suites. Your sewing side will not show so dont stress too much about it.

  20. Step 20

    Step 20

    Make sure you wind your rug on a flat surface though.. I had to undo mine because I had a "hump" in the middle.

    Now you just go round and round and round until you feel it's big enough. The bigger you get the longer it takes to do one full round.

    I did mine over several weeks so I lost count how long it actually took.

  21. Step 21

    Step 21

    When you get to the end of your rug I just kinda tapered mine off and sewed it in as tight as possible taking the tails under the rug and sewing them in.

Versions (1)

Version Rag Rug Get Rid Of All Those Scraps!!! By Nastassia B.

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GrammaBev

GrammaBev

24 Mar 12:57

Your directions are great! I am happy to see I'm not the only crazy person who ties stuff to their toes to hold it - that's what I used to do when I did macrame years ago!

KMOM14

KMOM14

24 Mar 15:10

Very entertaining tutorial! I have all sorts of scraps lying around and this is going on my project to-do list. Thanks for sharing it!

Ashley P.

Ashley P.

25 Mar 02:58

This is an amazing tutorial.. I remember my grandmother buying a rug from someone years ago, and the lady said that she had made it from sheets... now I see how she did it!

you're awesome, thanks so much for the tute!

Nastassia B.

Nastassia B.

25 Mar 07:47

LOVE IT !

Flail of the flair

Flail of the flair

25 Mar 16:07

Thanks guys!!! My mom used to have old rag rugs too. I loved them. Now I can make my own.

asha a.

asha a.

30 Mar 18:49

very good i like this

SarahPOOF.

SarahPOOF.

04 Apr 03:56

:) awesome! i'm gonna go make one now! great school holidays activity.

and nice dog btw.. is it a staffy??

LoveLikeGravity

LoveLikeGravity

10 Apr 18:17

Wow I love this tutorial to pieces. And I'm glad to see there is another human being in the world who holds things with her feet. Glad I'm not a freak. Hahaha. I am making a rug like this right now, I like yours much better though.

Laura L.

Laura L.

09 Jul 02:11

I also use my toes to hold things like this! lol

Nice to know we are not alone.

Also I am working on my first rag rug.
I am very excited about it, thanks for the tips!

christine s.

christine s.

15 Aug 21:54

I'm already working on one of these for my dorm room right now- such awesomeness. It's cool to see that other people are as crazy as me to try to tackle such a time consuming project.

christine s.

christine s.

15 Aug 21:54

I'm already working on one of these for my dorm room right now- such awesomeness. It's cool to see that other people are as crazy as me to try to tackle such a time consuming project.

Zassy 2.4

Zassy 2.4

31 Aug 00:44

CUTE PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amber A.

Amber A.

09 Sep 00:16

I love this tutorial I have to try it, cause the middle of the floor in my room looks sooo empty

Flail of the flair Posted By:
Flail of the flair »
March 24, 2009 11:27
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