My Scrappy Rug

My problem with decorating my house is that I can never decide what I want from a store's selection. Nothing ever has enough of all the colors I want to incorporate or has the right shape, look, pattern, etc.  My needs for a rug are no different. The townhouse my partner and I rent has a cozy living room/dining room/kitchen combo that leads into a wonderful back yard that we just fenced during summer 2015 with the help of our lovely parents. (Really, we can't thank them enough for all the wonderful help!!!) Our German Sheppard loves it! She runs and fetches her Kong toys until she can't anymore! My problem is that we have very light carpet and she occasionally has very muddy paws. I can't hardly keep up with cleaning the area after a rain or snow and quite frankly I'm too lazy to wipe her paws after every outing regardless of the fact that she is often too quick for me anyway.

So my rug making adventure began! I made a tooth brush rug previously to work in my purple and green themed dorm room and now those same purple and green items liven up my sewing room. 

My mom graciously handed over some old sheets for me to use for this creation. Nothing in my rug making adventure is an exact science, but the first step has been to tear the sheets. I know that I probably ingested quite a few fabric fibers from tearing, but I don't really care that much. Someone who is looking to adventure into tearing sheets might wear a mask to prevent this hazard.  After tearing sheets I ended up with fun balls of fabric! My pup eyed the fabric collection for a few months as I worked to complete the project. I think they remind her of her favorite ball chewy that she may have destroyed recently...

The next step is to begin the rug! If you've ever made a friendship bracelet where you made "the shape of a four" with your thread and successfully completed that bracelet, you can make this rug. You quite simply just continue to make a hitch stitch or knot. 

This is the beginning of the rug. When I say "make the shape of a four" I mean that your long/ vertical end (I have it underneath of my legs to keep it stable, actually) continues to be your vertical piece of your four. You use your working piece to make the loop of the four on top of the vertical piece and then you loop it under the vertical piece and through the loop.

It all sounds complicated, but once you make the first knot, you get the hang of it quickly and just keep on chugging! When you make it long enough to fit your needs, you turn the piece and begin adding extra loops to make the end more rounded (if desired). I started out with mine very long and skinny so that my rug would reflect that shape. If I wanted a round rug I would've immediately began turning the rug. If I wanted more oval like my purple and green I would have made the first round short and turned relatively soon.

This is after two or three rounds of blue.

Eventually, it comes time to change colors again and again! I am using all different coordinating shades of blues, whites and yellows to go with my kitchen/living room theme.

Each time that you add a color I really think it changes what color your eye perceives first! Right now I see a lot of yellow and multi-color. This multicolor fabric is actually the same as my pillows!

Here are two links for people who made the rugs using crochet hooks that look very similar to my creation: http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2010/02/rag-rug-tutorial.html and http://theroyalsisters.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-towith-some-helpful-links.html.  I prefer my method because I don't have a crazy big crochet hook yet and I actually made my own wooden tool with a lot of elbow grease, a left over wooden dowel that my dad gave me, some sand paper, and some of my partner's power tools when he was at work (shhhhh... maybe that saw I bought you for Christmas was actually for me! haha). When I got finished drilling out the center of the tool, it looks just like a big needle that I use to help thread the fabric through my "four."

I really love all these colors together. Some of these fabrics were actually used for my throw pillows as well!!

More pictures of my work in progress!

This rug has taken me much longer than I thought it would, but I guess I also underestimated the size that I wanted it to be.  One day I might venture to make it longer and wider but it looks good to me right now!! :)

Here is the finished project! It is a little over 2 feet wide and about 5.5 feet long.

For more information on how to make a rug and the MANY different methods you could use, here is my mom's pinterest board. I have items in my Crafting board, but that is an entire board dedicated to rug making! (She's much more dedicated than I, I think it'll be some time before I make another rug despite how fun or easy it really is).

How many of you have I convinced to make your own creations? Post below to tell us your ideas!!