When it comes to classic crafting techniques and home decor pieces, rugs have always been one of our favourite things to make. There’s just something fun about see a rug in your home and feeling it on your feet as you walk through the room that gives us a sense of satisfaction, especially because they’re sizeable and therefore noticeable. We also love that making your own rugs gives you complete creative control over colour! SO, what’s our very favourite kind of DIY rug to make, you ask? We simply adore making rag rugs!
Just in case you’re as interested in rag rugs as we are but you feel like you need some guidance, instruction, or even just colour suggestions, here are 15 of the best rag rug related tutorials we’ve come across on the Internet.
Sure, you can make rag rugs in all one colour, but where’s the fun in that? We much prefer this dual coloured rag rug idea featured on My Love of Style! They guide you through the process of knot tying in the basic rag rug technique but using more than one colour to create a sort of blended fringy effect that’s great for tying dual colour decor schemes together in a room.
Knot tied rag rugs might be the most popular kind of rag rug making craft out there, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only kind! Pocketful of Pretty is here to remind you just how cool braided rag rugs can be, especially if you wind them into a spiral to make a circular mat! We love the way they chose white rags or strips of fabric as a base colour and then braided in different patterns and colours at various points to create a very cool colour changing effect.
Have you always been a huge fan of the knot tied style of rag rug but you were actually really hoping to find a version that’s a little more atypical, unique, or exciting? In that case, we think perhaps we’ve found just the thing for you! We love the way Sensibly Sara let their rag rug stay wild, leaving the edges frayed and the rag tips long and scruffy. Imagine how soft and squishy this would feel on your toes in the morning!
If you’re going to make a rug from the rags you’ve been saving up, would you actually prefer that it not be scruffy atall? In that case, we think perhaps you might prefer the look and style of loom woven rag rugs! If you’ve never used a loom or done weaving before, then this is actually a great project for you to start with because it’s quite simple but very satisfying when you see your whole rug all finished and gracing your floor with its presence. Get the full instructions for a rig just like this one on To Life and To Love.
When you started thinking about what kinds of rags and scraps you might have in your fabrics and materials stash, did you come across old pieces and strips of felt that you’ve been meaning to use but you’ve found, just as we have, that felt scrap crafts aren’t as common as fabric rag ones are? In that case, we’re happy to introduce you to the awesome concept of felt scrap rugs! Shelterness walks you step by step through the process of layering felt scraps in various colours around each other to create awesome swirling patterns for a mat that’s so pretty you’ll hardly want to put your feet on it.
Do you quite enjoy the way that loom woven rugs look compared to knot tied or braided rugs, but you’d much prefer making yours in a circular shape and you only know how to loom in the classic rectangle shape that you learned as a kid? In that case, we are about to make your life a whole lot easier and show you how to get creative with some unconventional tools! We love the way Lesson Plans created their own circular loom using nothing but scrap fabric, scissors, and a hula hoop to get just the kind of woven circular mat you’ve been looking for.
Are you torn somewhere between wanting to braid your rug or loom weave it and you’re having a lot of trouble deciding? Well, who said you have to decide either way or pick between the two at all? Instead of giving one up, try using this twisted fabric weaving technique from Timber Hill Threads to get something that looks a bit like both! We like that this lets you create a braided rectangle mat without any sewing involved.
Perhaps you really like the knot tying technique when it comes to making rag rugs, but you’ve been looking for a really simplified version that you can teach to your kids and making together? Then we think perhaps we’ve found just the tutorial for you! Minette’s Maze shows you how to make a rag rug by knotting your rag pieces through the holes of the kind of rubber kitchen mesh you might place on the bottom of your cupboard shelves or put under a placemat so it doesn’t slide around while your kids eat.
We’ve shown you plenty of knotted rag rug designs by now that suggest using materials and fabrics of all kinds, but what if you’re looking for an idea that’s totally unconventional and a little more unique? Well, Crafty Pants McGee suggests saving up your old jeans and pieces of denim clothing and shredding those into knotting strips instead! The technique is the same otherwise, but the effect is one you’ll find not many of your guests and visitors have seen before.
Perhaps you’ve actually got a rag rug that you made years ago and you don’t really have room or use for it anymore, but you just can’t bear to give something you made with your own two hands away or get rid of it? In that case, perhaps upcycling it into something new would be a better plan! We’d suggest taking a look at how DIY Network made this simple throw pillow from two halves of a rectangular loom woven rag rug just like the ones we showed you above.
Are you still thinking about how much you’d love to make yourself a a circular fabric strip rag rug but you’ve never really been one for weaving or braiding because most of your DIY skills actually lie in making yarn crafts? In that case, we absolutely think you should take a look at this tutorial from Idle Wife! It teaches you how to make a crocheted floor mat using a big hook and rag strips instead of yarn.
Perhaps you’ve actually been looking for tutorials that will help you learn how to use the knotting and weaving skills you’ve already learned from making rag rugs in other kinds of projects, just to diversify your skills? In that case, we think these woven friendship bracelets featured on Macramé School might catch and keep your attention! They give you clear, concise instructions to make the whole weaving process as simple as possible.
Regardless of what kind of rug you’ve been thinking of making, have you been scrolling through our list thinking about how you don’t actually just have fabric scraps laying around because you don’t really sew or make material crafts, but you’d still like to make one? In that case, we think you’ll be excited to learn about the idea of upcycled t-shirt rag rugs! Crafty Life shows you how to cut the shirts into strips and weave the pieces into something you can set outside your bedroom door or by the kitchen sink to stand on while you do the dishes.
Did we really catch your attention when we briefly mentioned yarn crafts above because, even though you’re quite interested in making rag rugs, you’re actually more of a knitter and crochet enthusiast, so most of your scraps are yarn scraps rather than fabric scraps? In that case, we think you’ll feel pretty intrigued by these amazing pom pom mat design from Cuz Why Not! We can’t possibly think of a better way to use up some of your weird yarn ends, especially because you can combine pom poms of all weights, blends, and textures in one place and it’ll only make your mat even better!
