The Rag Rug Bug Bites Hard

Hi guys. I found a little pic in Pinterest not long ago that showed a beautiful rag rug made from a pile of old raggy sheets. I was pretty excited by this and it motivated me to drag out all the old bed sheets I'd stashed away over the years. There were single bed sheets and doona covers that belonged to the children way before they moved into double beds and way way before they moved out of home. I found double bed sheets that are useless now because  ours and the guest room are queen sized beds. I even found a couple of old cot sheets. What fun! I had the goods. Time to start.

Next I had to decide how I was going to put it all together. There's heaps of tutorials out there for rag rugs and I trolled the net for days just looking. I finally found one that I really liked the look of. It was just plaiting right? Plaiting's fun. I can do this. Simple.... I then looked at the pattern  again. Hmmmm, It involved a needle and thread. I'm not keen on the idea  of sewing all those metres of plaited fabric together . I knew right then that at the end of the day I would have long useless coils ( but pretty right?) hanging around the house collecting dust, waiting for the day that I felt like stitching it all together. That day, I know in my heart, will never come.

I see a crocheted rug I really like. Easy, I can crochet can't I? I made a blanket for my baby 25 years ago. It'll come back to me if I find a crochet hook and get started, surely. I find an old hook that I'd bought about 20yrs ago and get started.

I've already torn the sheets into strips, pulled out all the loose threads and rolled it all into balls. That was the most time consuming part. (When I made the first rug I was just knotting the strips together. I've got a much better system now which I'll show you later. ) I started the chain stitch and started putting it together. I didn't really know what I was doing until I got to about the 20th round and didn't add any stitches so it got a bit bumpy in places. I persevered though and managed to make a rather charming and evidently home made circular rug. Oscar just loves it, as you can see.

I made a second one. I tried for an oval which kind of  went weird and turned into a basket. I still had no idea that you need to increase stitches every now and then. Next I made a rectangular one. I love this one but I couldn't get all the edges straight for some strange reason. (Notice the gorgeous patchwork quilt my talented sister made for me. I just love it. )

I've just started another one. This time I'm using a crochet hook that my partner Barry made for me from a piece of 12mm dowel. The texture of the rug is much thicker using a bigger hook but it does use more fabric. I've just about exhausted my supply of sheets so I had to go out to the local recycling tip shop to see what they had.

This was a really awesome way to get what I was after. I found 15 sheets in various colours and it cost me a total of $6!!! I took them home, soaked them in nappysan overnight, washed in the machine as usual and dried them in the sun. I tore them all into strips about 4cm wide and joined them together using a really cool trick (linked below) when making a ball of fabric strips for crocheting.

http://tottietalkscrafts.com/2010/05/13/how-to-make-a-join-in-fabric-strip-yarn-or-tarn/

It's simple, there's no messy knots! Awesome.
I think I've got the hang of it now. I'm actually noticing that when it tightens up a little I just need to increase a few stitches here and there. It actually sits flat. Amazing. Every time I put it down to measure it Oscar sits on it. Here he is biting his bum on it. Charming isn't he?