Don’t you just love handmade rag rugs? Somehow they make a room warmer and more colorful! There are several ways to make a rag rug: braiding, weaving and by making knots. My favorite type or rug is made with the Amish knot. This post is all about how to finish this type of rag rug and care for it!
Make sure you don't miss the rest of the posts in this series!
Through this series I’ve been working on a little white rug for my bathroom and it has grown from a 6 inch base to a 23 x 26.5 inch rug. Perfect for right in front of my bathroom counter! When I started it I wondered how long it would take to make a smaller rug.
On February 13 I started the base and I finished it on March 10th so just a little over a month of rug making got it done! I was keeping track of the hours and then I forgot but my estimate is that it took about 10 hours to make the rug.
That’s just 5-6 movies or a season of your favorite TV show! Totally doable.
Finishing a Rag Rug
I like to finish my rugs at the curve of the rug. It hides the ending really well.
When you are transitioning from the straight part of the rug to the curve cut off your strips to be about 4 inches long. Keep making stitches until you don't have enough fabric to do another.
As pictured below, take your needle with the working strip fabric(white) through the stitches of the previous row. By going through 6-7 stitches you will keep it from coming unraveled but if you are worried then you can just stitch the end down with a little thread.
Flip the rug over and do the same with the tail on the back side of the rug.
After the ends are anchored then you will not be able to see where you ended the row! I compare this process to finishing a crochet project. You also anchor the end of the yarn by working it back through the crocheted stitches in this same way.
Need a wooden needle? Get yours on the Rag Rug Resource page!
Care for your rug
This is dependent on the material that your rug is made from. I use a lot of cotton so I just throw mine in the washing machine when my rugs become soiled. Usually every month or two.
After washing I dry mine flat.
In the summer I lay them on our deck and they dry pretty quick but in the winter I lay them on top of our dog kennels and they are dry the next day.
I'm always surprised at how fast they dry despite being pretty thick from all the fabric. You might be able to put them in the dryer but I have never tried it. Plus I know that the dryer is harder on fabric than air drying so I don't do it in an effort to make my rugs last longer!
Other fabrics may require different care so make sure you know what kind of fabric you are using to make your rug!
NEW! Rag Rug Video mini-course available!
Now that you have made it through most of the posts in this rug making series, I would like to announce something very special!
Many people are visual and need to see how to make Rag Rugs so as I made my last rug I videoed each step to be included a rag rug mini-course that will allow you to “see” how it is all done!
Each post in the series has pictures and so does the Rags to Rugs eBook but there is just something about video and watching how a craft goes together! If you want to see a sample of what the videos are like you can check out the tutorial on how to join fabric without sewing. There are 8 videos in the mini-course.
I cannot wait to get these in your hands!
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