Yay! Ragrug's finally done!

[Cuddlefish]

I didn't sew anything, because I think it's part of the charm of rag rugs that they look rugged and have some ends and corners of fabric sticking out. Especially when they're made from so many different kinds of fabric. As long as they're attached properly and don't come lose, I don't mind if a bit of the ends are showing.

 

Incidentally, my friend who's getting the rug has a kitchen that has a kind of oldfashioned look. She likes to mismatch china and mix colourful sets up deliberately, old and new together, and just use whatever she thinks looks nice. She has some amazing antique pieces, lots of coloured glass items and such. I think she thinks that having a rag rug is just the perfect extension to that deliberately random looking style.

[Swayde]

That is so cool looking. I never knew those were made with crochet! I am so going to have to make one some day =)

[jacqui]

If you want to be fussy or are going to put it into a competition you can buy a little gismo that you run the strips through and iron. So the strips look a bit like bias binding then you sew the lengths and each strip so the edges are all neat and no threads show.To me thats a pain in the ... and defeats the purpose. They are supposed to look raggedy thats the charm of them in my opinion.

[elicrochet]

Don't quilters have a special tool they use to cut the fabric? So you would not have to rip it up and not as much dust.

The rug is beautiful you should be proud of your hard work !!

[jaclim]

I like it a lot! It looks so classy! I love the colors!

[Eugenie]

I have been thinking about trying one too but am worried about durability and the difficulty of keeping it clean. I have heard that my grandmother used to make these kind of rugs but she sewed the fabric strips into "tubes" before crocheting. No way do I have the patience for that

 

She did it so that they would hold up better and be easier to wash.

[Cuddlefish]

I've never sewn mine. I had some I washed 20 times, and they were just fine. Eventually they faded so much though, that I ripped them and made them into new ones. The biggest one that came out of that I still have in the middle of my livingroom, and it's probably been washed at least 10-15 times already. It has a small tear, but it's easily fixable, it should be good for several years more.

[chickpea67]

This is fabulous looking!

 

Shelain--since kid clothes are tiny I'd think you could sew the ends of the strips together so that you're not constantly joining new pieces. I think a rug made from all your babies' clothing would be a treasured heirloom!

 

 

Do you really onlycut them 1-2 cms?? Thats so tiny!

[Cuddlefish]

It depends on the kind of fabric, of course. But the hook I use isn't all that big either, it's 5.5 (I'm not sure what that is in US terms).

 

Btw, a way to avoid too many loose ends and fragile strips in a single row is to avoid cutting through the seams when you cut clothes. I always cut each piece free from the seams, and then rip/cut it. It may seem obvious, but it was a mistake I made in the beginning, not realising that strips that had cut seams in them may eventually come apart. And even if they stay whole while they're in the rug, they'll almost certainly come apart if you try to frog it later.

[TepperWear]

That is so beautiful. I'm in the process of making one in the round out of sheets. But I'm not happy with ripping them. The ends get stringy, so I'm going to get a rolling knife, that quilters use, which cuts through several pieces of fabric at once, and I think it goes quick. So, I'm on hold til then. But I love the look so far and can't wait to get going on it. Seeing yours makes me want to run to Joann's tomorrow.