Colourful Rag Rug Tutorial

Hi :) If you are inspired to make your own version of this rug - I'd love to see it-  do come back and leave a comment with a link to it! Thanks a mill


I'm sharing an upcycling project I finished recently. It's a Rag Rug I made from old, worn out tees and vests. I made this by single crocheting a long chain from fabric strips. It could also be made by plaiting/braiding strips of fabric together.
I used a single crochet chain as it uses a single strip of fabric, as opposed to the three you would need for braiding. So I found it made up faster than braiding.

1. You will need : some old tees and a large crochet hook. I used a number 4 (6mm)
Start by cutting into the tee shirt hem at an angle

2. Continue cutting around the tee, in a continuous circle. I cut the strip about 2 1/2 inches wide.
Follow the angle of the first cut , to give a continuous strip of fabric





                         

3. Then tie a loop at one end of the strip and insert your crochet hook - you will be crocheting a long chain following the directions below. 

 

4.Catch your fabric with your hook and pull a loop through the first loop (see below)

pull through loops

5. Continue pulling through loops until your chain is as long as you want

Crochet chain

6.You can tie on more fabric as you get to the end of your strip
I joined the strips together before I made the chain.
You could sew them together but it was much quicker to use this method of joining (from V and co ). how-to-jersey-knit-bracelet best of luck if you decide to make one:)

coil chain and sew together

  



7.Start your rug by coiling your chain and stitching along the edges to hold them together

view of the back

Continue for as long as you want ! mine grew quite a bit as you can see below

Finished Rug - made using lots of old clothes


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A few questions that came up in comments :

How many tees did I use? :  I used mostly old kids clothes, and I've just counted about 44!! But if you used adults tee's I'd imagine 20 would be enough. It measures just over a metre in Diameter ( or about 40 inches)

How was the edge finished : I turned under the tail end of the last coil and stitched it in place. Then I used a very long strip of yellow jersey, about 1" wide, and a crochet hook, to do a border of single crochet stitch.