Crocheting rag rugs

[poemfish]

I have bene crocheting for a long time but this is something that I haven't tried yet. A friend of mine gave me a huge garbage bag full of fabric I want to cut into strips and make some rugs. So here are my questions

 

1) How wide should the strips be?

2) Is it better to do rows or in rounds?

3) How bad do they fray?

4) Do the rugs hold up?

 

Any other advice?

 

michele

[Alosha]

I usually cut my strips about 1/4" wide. The wider the strips the looser the stitches.

You can do it in rows or rounds, My person preference is rounds since I like to do oval rugs.

How much the fabric frays depends on the fabric. Most of mine have been done with a cotton poly blend & even then some fray more than others. One way to keep fraying to a minimum is to cut the strips with a rotory cutter rather than ripping them. Also, if you have the patience (I don't:) ), you can fold the strips like bias tape & iron them before crocheting.

Also, most fabric doesn't have the "give" of yarn, so you may have to adjust your tension & your increases when working in rounds. Hope this helps.

Alosha

[Stacey]

I have a huge beast of a rag rug that I made maybe a a year and a half or two years ago. I cut the strips about an inch or so wide, mainly to make the job go faster so I wouldn't die of old age cutting up t-shirts, and did it in an oval with a Q hook. It's been through the wash a bunch of times, isn't fraying that I've noticed, and is holding up well. (It likes to curl up some at the edges, but I'm thinking that's probably because I really should've used an S hook because I crochet tightly and cut the strips wide.)