A recycled braided rag rug from old bed sheets! What a great way to reuse and recycle! Thanks to our friends at Craft Passion for the tutorial!
1.Old bed sheets (3 king size should be enough to make 3 rag rugs)
2. Scissors
3. Pencil and ruler
4. Safety pin and pin
5. Sewing machine and threads
1. Mark the edge of the old bed sheet, 1″ apart. Snip and tear to the end. Do it on warp or weft direction of the bed sheet not the bias.
2. Remove all the loose threads along the strips, they normally are those vertical threads that came off when you tear the fabric.
3. Roll up the strips into ball, don’t join the ends, just roll it up and get ready for the next step. I made 3 from different bed sheets, so that I will get some pattern when I braid the strips. Stack 3 strips and make a few stitches at the end.
4. Secure the end by pinning it down with safety pin to somewhere you feel comfortable to work at. I pinned it on my ironing board. Curtain should do well too.
5.Start braiding till you come to an end of the strip.
6. Arrange the strips to end at different length so they don’t join at the same point and make the braid bulky. Cut the length if necessary.
7. Loosen up the other ends when they get tangled up. This is the reason why I advise not to join the strips before braiding. Short length is easier to loosen up.
8. When come to the end of a strip and need an extension extension, fold the end of the strip at about 1 -1.5″ from the edge, make a small slit vertically. Do the same to the new strip.
9. Put the new strip on top of the existing and pass the tail end through the slit holes.
10. Gently pull the strip until is goes all the way to the other side. The end of the existing strip goes through it as well.
11. Tug it a little to tighten up the joint. Continue to braid.
12. Braid the strips till you have a substantial length for the rag rug, 10 yard or so. Just an estimation will do, if you don’t have enough, you can always braid again later.
15.Fold the centerpiece of the left over bed sheet after all the stripping, to a size of about 23″ x 17″. I place an old curtain at the bottom to further reinforce the rag rug, you can do without it if your bed sheet is not as tattered as mine.
16.Tack stitch to secure all layers.
17. Mark 1″ square on the base, to have 22 squares x 16 squares (with 1/2″ seam allowance for the sides). This is useful during sewing the braid strip to the base, so that you will know if your rag is going out of the shape.
18. Place the braid at the center 6 squares width wide, coil and go around the first strip. Hide the head end of the braid when your rounding strip reach there. Pin to secure.
19. Sew the side of the braid with zigzag stitch so that the braids join up side by side.
20. Continue to sew until you reach the last square.
21. Cut away the extra base.
22. Sew the braid under the base. Hide the end. Complete!
