Happy Labor Day! For a fun change of pace today, I have the cute girls from Everyday Art here to show us How to Make a Rag Rug tutorial. I love their super easy technique! This is definitely a great craft for fabric scraps. {don’t ya love scrap busters?} enjoy! -Linda
How to Make a Rag Rug Tutorial
Hi, my name is Jaime and my sister-in-law Emily and I are craftaholics. :)
We like to share our creations on our blog, Everyday Art because we think that everyone likes to create a little art everyday.
We’re excited to be here at Craftaholics Anonymous® today sharing one of our recent projects.
Introducing, the Pink-and-Blue Rag Rug:
And I must say, phew!, what a long, loooong time this project took me! Many hours sitting watching shows/listening to audio books while working on this puppy. But, I have to say, even knowing how many hours (days, weeks, months) I’ve put into this, I’m so pleased with how it turned out. I love it. :)
We recently moved and I put my two oldest girls in a shared bedroom. One loves blue, the other pink. So what to do but make a pretty blue-and-pink room for them? After completing the blue-and-pink quilts for their bunk beds, painting the walls blue, and hanging pink curtains, I tackled the rag rug as my next project.
As you can see, it turned out cute, coordinating, and much loved by the two girls.
The rug really was simple to make, just time-consuming. Basically, I used strips of fabric (1000s of them) cut about 1 inch x 5 inches. I stuffed these strips into a non-skid rug mat and voila! No need to even bother tying the strips.
You can see the rug mat in this image and about how often I skipped holes. Obviously, I certainly could have made it more full by skipping less holes in the non-skid mat, but there really wasn’t a need to make it any more full. I used leftover fabric from their quilts plus other scraps and purchased fabrics.
The rug has been in the girls’ room for about 2 weeks now and it easily fluffs up with a little shake and appears to be holding up well. With projects like this, the personalizing possibilities are truly endless–any color scheme would be fun.
Ready to make one yourself?
Rag Rug Tutorial
Supplies:
- 1″ x 5″ strips of fabric
- Non-skid Rug Mat
- Latch Hook Tool {optional}
Here’s an image-tutorial on how to make a rag rug:
I hope your rug goes well! I think this was one of my all-time-favorite handmade items.
Thanks Linda for having us. :)
Lots of love from the gals at Everyday Art!
Follow along on Pinterest for more Crafting Ideas and Inspiration!
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Fantastic! Great fun
How is it holding up? Does it fray much?
Do you knot the fabric???
or just leave them loose?
She just let them loose
She left them loose
When you pull it through do you tie each one
How many strips total did it take to make this rug?
What kind of material works the best??
Knit or jersey material
I used fleece for my rugs, inexpensive and looks great.
She said thousands
How many fabric stripes you will need?
Love this idea but don’t the strips of fabric fray?
I had a vintage rag rug exactly like this one… except, of course, it was very old. The strips of fabric were no longer ‘fluffy’, but it was still very pretty. I did not wash it in the washing machine, but washed it by hand in the bathtub then took it outside to thoroughly rinse with the hose and dried it in the shade outdoors. A few strips would come off regularly… and, in fact, I am a dollmaker and would always save those raggedy little strips to use for tying doll’s braids, etc. Eventually I started ‘stealing’ strips from the rug for my dolls…lol. I used that rug for at least 15 or more years and it is probably packed up somewhere… bottom line, my experience was that these rugs hold up remarkably well. :)
I am deginitely gonna make one! I’ve been looking for a bath tug in a particular color and now i can make my own! Thank u gor posting this!:-)
If you used terrycloth or old towels it would absorb water well.
can this rug can be washable ?
Yes, in a laundry bag and lay flat to try
How many yards of material total do you need?
3-4
Hi Linda,
Awesome craft! Thanks for the easy directions. Do you think a larger area would hold up equally well? I’m thinking a 5×8 or 6×9 size?
Yes, I think it would hold up just fine :)
This is absolutely adorable! I think I’ll take some of our kids baby clothes and make each of them a rug… Thanks for sharing!
I bet using a crochet needle would make it go faster!
How many yards of fabric to make the 3 x 5 rugs? I have several yards I’d like to use before buying. Thanks!
How do you wash it?
In a laundry bag and lay flat to dry
Could I use my daughter’s clothes that no longer fit her?
Yes
How many holes did you skip.
They’re not knotted at all? just looped through once and left?
How far apart are the rows & did you go in every hole
Have you washed this at all and how did it hold up??
Hello!
I was wondering how long it took from start to finish to complete the diy rag rug?
It took a long time. Probably several movies :)
This rug is absolutely gorgeous!!
I don’t have any fabric scraps but have found where I can buy some. If you had to guess, how many pounds of scraps would I need to make the same size rug that you’ve made?
I love your rug! I looked at the picture showing how many holes you skipped, Lou Stasny
About how many yards of material did it take to make this rug?
I believe she used 3 yards
Is the rug washable?
Has anyone tried this with a latch hook canvas? I have one but I’m worried about the fabric slipping. I’d like to use what I already have but starting to think I should buy one of the nonslip mats.
I haven’t but I got my nonslip mat at dollar store.
What kind of fabric did you use? Cotton?
Yes cotton
hi. if I use latch hook fabric, will the not knotted strips stay in as well? I believe the non skid holes are smaller. I already own latch hook fabric. thank you
I just found your site. I’m definitely a craftaholic too. I just made three crocheted rag rugs that turned out great. Now I’m anxious to make your fluffy rag rug for my bathroom. I’ll send pics when finish it. Thanks so much, Reta
Where can I buy the base for the rag mat
Hi I don’t know how get your reply
Hi Carole, You can find them here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UV3FJ4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003UV3FJ4&linkCode=as2&tag=craftahanonym-20
I made a rag rug for my granddaughter 2 years ago. I used bright colors like teal, pink lavender, red, blue, yellows and any others I could find. She loved it and now requests another one to match her new bedroom. This is very easy to do just takes time. Thanks for the idea.
You’re an awesome Grandma, Cindy! :) Happy crafting!
Did you have to do anything to the rug edges to “finish” it off? It looks like the rug mat comes pretty much complete.
No, the ends of the fabric hang over the edges and hide the rug mat underneath. So no need to finish off the edges :)
I would imagine that not tying the strips would make it easier for the rug to be pulled apart by the little ones or during a wash even. Is this not the case? I’d also like to ask if you used anything special to cut the strips or just a good old pair ofscissors?
Hi Alanae, a Rotary cutter with cutting mat will save your hand and make cutting those strips so much faster!
This is the cutest rug I’ve seen. I’m thinking of making one for my granddaughter. Thanks for the instructions!
beautiful!
Such a lovely handmade gift and could be ful of memories if you used previously used materials, thank you