Rugs have been used for many centuries to accent a room or provide a place for a pet to call home, or even to relieve the stress that furniture can put on carpet or bare flooring. Making your own rug is not only rewarding because it is something you make with your own hands, but it is rewarding because it can dress up just about any room and also, provided you follow instructions and your craftsmanship is impeccable, can be passed down to other generations as well as making a great gift.
The first thing you will need to do is take a trip to the fabric store to choose the colors of fabric and style that you want. You will need to choose a very sturdy fabric because remember, this is an area rug or a rug that might have a lot of traffic on it and you do not want it to fall apart in a year. Fabrics that are made of strong material such as denim or very strong cotton are both good choices. Keep the decor of the room in mind too. You do not want to make a purple and pink rug for a room that has primarily neutral colors in it so stick with the color of the room, but you can be creative in design.
The next thing you will want to do is make sure that you purchase enough material to create the size of rug you want. Most braided rugs are typically either 2x3 Ft. or 3x5 ft. and you can shape them either oval or round depending on your needs. Obviously, there are rugs that are quite a bit larger than this, but for making your first rug, I recommend choosing one just this size to start out with so that you can get a feel for what it will take to create a braided area rug much larger. So with that said, you will need to purchase enough material to cut strips of fabric at least twice that amount because you will be braiding and coiling this rug, it is better to have too much than not enough.
When you have your material ready to go, you will want to cut 3 strips of each fabric into long strips that are approximately 3 inches wide. If you are going for the alternating color look, then make sure that you have the colors in a row the way you want them to appear in the coil. For example, if you are doing a red, white and blue rug, it is best to put the stripes in a red, white and blue order instead of red, blue and white. You will achieve a more flow-like look by doing this.
Next, you will want to sew the ends of each strand together at one end and you can refer to that end as the top of your braid and then once you have sewn them together, you can start braiding until you reach the end. Once you reach the end, you will want to sew that end together to complete the braid.
The final step is going to be coiling and sewing the coil to finish the area rug. You will coil the braid just like a snake would coil and make sure that you start from one end of the braid and place the color you want visible in the center of the rug up.
You will need to hand stitch the inside of the coil with nylon thread because this will be the strongest holding thread. Each time you coil the braid around to the spot where you made your first hand stitch, you will want to make another hand stitch in the same spot for each coil around.
When you reach the end of your coil, you will tuck in the ends between the folds of the previous coils and sew that down firmly. Now you are ready to check the rug for any frays or loose threads and trim them off or sew them down.
You project is complete and you now have a new accent piece to place in any room you choose! - 30447
The first thing you will need to do is take a trip to the fabric store to choose the colors of fabric and style that you want. You will need to choose a very sturdy fabric because remember, this is an area rug or a rug that might have a lot of traffic on it and you do not want it to fall apart in a year. Fabrics that are made of strong material such as denim or very strong cotton are both good choices. Keep the decor of the room in mind too. You do not want to make a purple and pink rug for a room that has primarily neutral colors in it so stick with the color of the room, but you can be creative in design.
The next thing you will want to do is make sure that you purchase enough material to create the size of rug you want. Most braided rugs are typically either 2x3 Ft. or 3x5 ft. and you can shape them either oval or round depending on your needs. Obviously, there are rugs that are quite a bit larger than this, but for making your first rug, I recommend choosing one just this size to start out with so that you can get a feel for what it will take to create a braided area rug much larger. So with that said, you will need to purchase enough material to cut strips of fabric at least twice that amount because you will be braiding and coiling this rug, it is better to have too much than not enough.
When you have your material ready to go, you will want to cut 3 strips of each fabric into long strips that are approximately 3 inches wide. If you are going for the alternating color look, then make sure that you have the colors in a row the way you want them to appear in the coil. For example, if you are doing a red, white and blue rug, it is best to put the stripes in a red, white and blue order instead of red, blue and white. You will achieve a more flow-like look by doing this.
Next, you will want to sew the ends of each strand together at one end and you can refer to that end as the top of your braid and then once you have sewn them together, you can start braiding until you reach the end. Once you reach the end, you will want to sew that end together to complete the braid.
The final step is going to be coiling and sewing the coil to finish the area rug. You will coil the braid just like a snake would coil and make sure that you start from one end of the braid and place the color you want visible in the center of the rug up.
You will need to hand stitch the inside of the coil with nylon thread because this will be the strongest holding thread. Each time you coil the braid around to the spot where you made your first hand stitch, you will want to make another hand stitch in the same spot for each coil around.
When you reach the end of your coil, you will tuck in the ends between the folds of the previous coils and sew that down firmly. Now you are ready to check the rug for any frays or loose threads and trim them off or sew them down.
You project is complete and you now have a new accent piece to place in any room you choose! - 30447
About the Author:
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