Bittersweet Needle and Thread

Bittersweet Needle and Thread

Friday, December 11, 2015

Rag Rug Tutorial


RAG RUG

The rug measures 23" by 36".  There are 23 nails at both ends of the frame to wrap the weavers around and 2 rods along the side to keep the sides of the rug straight without causing it to pull in making an hourglass shape.
  

BASE WEAVERS
The first step is to cut strips for the base weavers.  I cut mine 1 inch wide.  You can use cloth, thick string, anything that is washable and will hold up.  It will take about 45 yards.  I wrapped them around the nails loosely.  This allows me room to weave.  The beginning and end of the weavers are tied to the first/last strips to secure it.  

STRIPS
I then took time to cut all my other weavers to have them ready so I could continue weaving without having to stop and cut.  It also allowed me to make sure that I have enough strips and a good variety.

 

 The strips are 1 1/2" wide and are connected by joining each together without sewing.


JOINING STRIPS
 First you make a slit in each end. 

 
Then you thread the top end of the orange strip through the slit in the blue strip.


 Next the bottom end of the orange strip is then threaded thru the slit in the top end of the orange strip.  Pull tight.  This holds the two together without seams, so no sitting at the sewing machine for hours joining them together.




I connect several strips together to make 2 long ones, then join them to the end of the strips that are already woven.  If I get them too long then it's bulky to weave because I have to pull the whole strip behind each base weaver. 


 TWINING
The weaving is called twining.  The black strip in the above picture, is crossed over and wrapped behind the base weaver (red).

 Then the yellow strip crosses on top of the black and weaves around the next red base weaver.



This is repeated back and forth.   In no time you have a rug!  Hope this made sense.


I love the mixed bag of color this rug has.



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Hope your holiday shopping is going well.  I tend to do mine early and only for the little ones.


Thanks for visiting
Cinder