1 honey bun of your choice (featured is "sweet" by urban chiks) and
4 yards of white fabric
cut your 4 yards of white fabric to 1 1/2 inch widths (yup ALL of it)
safety pin your three sewn strips anywhere you can be comfy (you are going to be there for a while! i did mine attached to my runner on my dining room table) this is the start of your braid.
start braiding your white fabric****EDITED****
****you need to make sure your braiding is SUPER LOOSE. do not make your braids tight at all. if they are tight they will make your rag rug curl up when you try to sew it together.******
once you get close to the end of your braid you are going to fold over the end of your strip and snip with your scissors a slit.
like so, and then you will do the same to the next strip that will be the following strip to lengthen your braid (do this to each of the three strips)
you will take the next strip and place it on top of the braided strip
this will adjoin your strips and you will be able to continue your braid
this is what it should look like, now keep braiding.
once you get close to the end of your braid you are going to do the same as you did before and make a slit at the ends of your braided strips and at the beginning of your next strips this time wanted to add color so i took one strip of the honey bun and two of the white strips i cut out.
it should now look like this. this will be what you do through out the whole process of braiding your rug. one color in the middle and two whites on the outside.
as you continue to braid your braid will get too long so unhook your safety pin and re-pin it closer to your end.
once you have completely braided ALL your strips together. you are going to sew you braid "shut" this tail will be tucked at the very end and you wont see it.
now that you have a whole mess of a braid going on...we are off to hand sew it together.
get some sturdy thread (i recommend one you use for upholstery) and a needle and you are going to start off by coiling your start of the long braid (the whites)start by hand stitching your coil center like so. (start in the very center of your coil first and work your way out)
*****EDITED*****
make sure once you get your center started and going...place your coil on a flat surface. this will ensure that your rug lays flat with each coil.
also make sure you do not overlay the braids at all. they need to be laying flat and to be sewn side by side to each other.
*****EDITED*****
make sure once you get your center started and going...place your coil on a flat surface. this will ensure that your rug lays flat with each coil.
also make sure you do not overlay the braids at all. they need to be laying flat and to be sewn side by side to each other.
you are going to continue to hand stitch your braids together, do this for the whole rug. what you are sewing is your back, when you are done, the stitches should be fairly hidden from the top. (the other side)
when you get to your end, make sure you tuck and stitch the end of your braid so that the tail is on the bottom of your rug and hidden when you turn it over. (snip the extra part of your tail if you like)****to make your rug a little sturdier, i recommend adding a felt backing to your rug.
first start off with placing your rug on top of your large piece of felt, (you can buy it at walmart for pretty cheap off the bolt you will need aprox 1 1/2 yards (just in case so you can piece a little if needed)) and cutting out the same size as your finished rug.
next hand sew around your rug on top of the felt.
and then at random places adhere your rug in the middle (and all over) by doing big stitches through your coils.
look what you made! isn't it pretty? and it will look so great ANYWHERE! (make some smaller circles to make bar stool seat covers!)
1 rag rug with width of 32 inches
if you'd like to purchase a kit to make this rag rug please visit this site
*****
to clean your rag rug properly we advise you to wash your rug and lay flat to air dry
******
93 comments:
Thank you so much for this tutorial! so simple and what a beauty when finished!
awesome V!! love that..and now I want to go buy more honey buns for this...I could make one for every room!
So pretty and a great tutorial.
Beautiful! Whatever you do, don't put the rug with so much white in a traffic area of your house. I have crocheted rugs. The light areas get grungy and stay that way. Your rug is a beautiful accent for an area that doesn't get walked on.
Good job missy! I can totally do that! You give me hope at my craft ability! You are awesome!
I love it!!! Congratulations on a great tutorial...how's your stomach feel now?? I would have been drinking Pepto Bismol by the gallons!! You did great.
~Karen~
Love the rug V. The colors are so springy. Way easier than I thought it would be. ooxx`jod
vanessa!!!
SO happy for you!!!
{now breathe in & out slowly and stop blowing chunks!!!}
:D
{i was SO excited that i totally couldn't type so i had to redo this comment. hahaha.}
Wow! You did a fabulous job. Think of all the gorgeous braided rag rugs that will be created. Really, think about how many there will be!!!
it's so pretty! I've always wondered how to make one of these rugs
This is way too cute! And has been added to my project list. Thanks!
This is adorable. If I start now, I might have one done for a Christmas gift. Not that your tutorial wasn't super great, but I am braided rug challenged. My mother would go crazy for this! Thanks for the love.
~Misti
I love this! A rug like this would look fabulous in my daughter's nursery. Gonna have to put it on my to do list!
Oh I love the things you make! How great to get noticed by MODA!!! Very cool!
oh, it's SO PRETTY!!!
great tutorial!
absolutely love it!! would love to have this in the wee one's room!! keep up the wonderful creating; you did an amazing job!!
You make it look so easy! I think I might even try it! Great job!
Congrats on your first tutorial here! That's so great for you! Can't wait to make this. :)
Love it!
Lovely:)
GENIUS! I love this and am going to make one TONIGHT. So, so, soooo darling and your tutorial is fantastic!
Thanks so much for this tutorial. I have been wanting to make a rug like this.
great tutorial. love this project!! so beautiful.
Thanks so much for shedding light on the "how the heck do I keep braiding without making a knot?" aspect of rag rug making. I plan to try making one from a vintage bedsheet, though it might be challenging to tear all my strips as evenly as that honeybun confection. Thanks again!
This is just darling! I would need to make a small rug, a kids room would be perfect!
OMG !!!!! I LOVE this !! I have wanted to make a braided rug out of cotton FOREVER but was too dang lazy to cut all the strips ..... but now half the work is already DONE !!! BRILLIANT !!
Love that V! Thanks for the great tutorial- you rock girl!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea!!! I can't wait to try it! Thanks for shareing!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing this tutorial! I will be making a rug for the baby's room.
However....I'm not "getting" how to join the strips through the slit. How does it not just pull right through?
Please help!
Thanks :)
Thanks for the tutorial! I think this would be great in red, white and blue!
carrie when you place the new strip on top of the braided one, and then you pull the "tail" of the new one through the BACK towards the front (this is the most important part)
then it interlocks and acts like a knot. i hope this helps
Got it! Thanks! (I can be a little slow sometimes lol)
Can't wait to get started!
This is so beautiful! I love the colors you chose. And thanks for the tutorial. It looks very doable. I'm going to make one of these very soon.
This is really beautiful, and I am struck by the amazing photographs. However -- I do have a practical question. Can these rugs be laundered? I'd want them to stay as pretty and clean as they started, but would worry about unraveling, fraying, and general falling-apart-ness, moldy not-drying-ness, and other potential problems...
none of the fabrics were prelaundered...so i'm assuming shrinkage will happen. but as for falling apart. pretty sure that it's not going to be an easy task due to all the hand sewing that goes to put the rug together...but you raise some good questions...i'm going to have to do some experienting over here! :)
That was a perfect step by step tutorial!! And your rug turned out soooooo cute! Where do I buy Honeybuns?? And do they have polyester fabric for the honey buns? That's my favorite stuff for rug making!
I just do not know if I could walk on it... thanks for sharing,Amy
This is great! I've always wanted to know how to do this! Thanks so much!
can I ask a stupid question? ( I came over from 1 pretty thing) what is the difference in a jelly roll and a honeybun? This site is making me hungry without even seeing food!!
are the fabric strips being folded ad they are braided??
A Jelly Roll consists of 2 1/2" strips and a Honey Bun consists of 1 1/2" strips.
Great tutorial. I've been wanting to learn how to do this. Yours is gorgeous. Mimi
Love your new blog! Lovely subjects & tutorials : )
Sandy
Berryvine Designs
fiesta, i was folding the strips so that the print was always showing, but as for the white ones, no i just braided them
Super great tutorial!!!!!
I am looking forward to trying this with my little girls who just learned to braid!
love this tutorial! where do i buy a honeybun or how do i make one?
I have always wanted to make one of these rugs, but the classes cost $30! I'm so glad you showed me.
I was told that you should wash your rug on a really hot day and then set it out on the sidewalk to dry and it drys quickly. Not sure if it would fade that way though.
Love your creativity.
I've always wanted to make one of these and your tutorial really made it seem very simple. I was wondering... do you believe it would be just as easy to use denim? I have a TON of old jeans that I've been collect to make a quilt, but I would love to have a denim braided rug on my floor just as much, but I don't want to attempt it if there would be issues.
thank you, thank you! your instructions for adding new strips to your braid were so easily understood..for years i have had to take the braid to the sewing machine to add new strips...now it will be a cinch! never too late to learn! thanks again...
Wow...this is beautiful1! With 4 little kiddos though I'll have to use something other than white :)
Thanks for the tutorial and all the tutorials you post!
I'm not sure what happened to the link on my post...
I don't have a blog but tried to leave my flikr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clothedinpurple/
Suzanne
will you be selling anymore fabric soon?
I loved this tutorial, but have a question.
If I didn't have a honey bun roll, how much fabric would it take to make this?
And if I wanted to make it oval instead, would I just start out folding the strip in half and tacking it down, then continue on as in the round one?
Thanks for sharing! I might try this rather than crocheting. My hands get so tired crocheting rugs.
this is a great tutorial--but i am unclear as to the procedure for doing the hand sewing. you say to roll up the center and start hand sewing. . .uh, how? exactly? i have been wanting to do this project for a while-- all the sheets that i bought when we first bought our house have worn out-- but they have sentimental value for me-- a great way to recycle them!
okay for the center you will start with holding your braid, roll it like a coil (as if you are making the shape of a snail's shell)one loop at first. this is the start of your rug. you will need to sew together your first loop just like i show the rest of the rug, connecting the sides of the braid with thread and needle. i really hope this helps, and i'm sorry it's taken me till now to get back to you through comment. if you have any more questions will you please email me at vanessa.christenson@gmail.com
thank you.
Love this, can't wait to make it.
This rug was so easy to make! I made one out of old sweaters..(pictured on my blog)..not as pretty as yours but had to make do with the colours I was given!
Thanks for the tutorial!
I am so happy that I've found your tutorial for making these!! My gram's used to make these when I was growing up and have always loved them. I had forgotten how to make them myself, due to a severe head injury from a wreck. As a result I've had to relearn things I thought I'd never forget. I so appreciate you posting this!!
I have been looking for something "quilty" and round to put on my oak kitchen table with a round clear glass on top. This will be perfect! Thanks for the idea.
Your tutorial was excellent! Thanks so much. I was looking for a rug tutorial and stumbled on yours. I'm now at the hand sewing part and my rug keeps curling and my thread is showing on both sides. Any thoughts? This is my "test" rug so I'm not too concerned. I'll be making many more! Thank You!
What a beautiful rug! You explained this very well. It's definately at the top of my to do list. Some questions..how many 1 1/2 strips did your 4 yards of white make and how many did you braid to get the white center...or is just a matter of personal taste? Thanks for a great tutorial.
neat! What are the dimensions of the final rug?
So pretty!
I love this! Sooo beautiful :) I may just have to do this for my new room.
One of the easiest to understand tutorials I have ever read. Thank you! I might just try this...
-Leiah
I love how you made this rag rug, even to the detail of joining the strands. Cool.
thank you for this tutorial! This is my fav and will look so cute in my sewing room!
My favorite is a toss up between the two baby quilts. I love the font used on the words, though.
This is my favorite project! I would hate to put on the floor to use for a rug though!
Love your rag rug tutorial and used it to create my own! I have posted about it on my own blog and linked to your site, hope you don't mind! :)
Lisa @ http://hollybobbs.blogspot.com
I have always wanted to make a rag rug I have so much fabric I just may make me one thanks :)
Thanks for this great tutorial-it's so easy to follow! I just made a little rug out of old t-shirts
This is very nice I am going to give it a try;)
I just wanted to add a tip for those looking for a budget friendly way to go - bedsheets are great for this found at places like thrift shops & yard sales. Also - since it likely won't we washed a LOT - you can experiment with using dyes on projects like this. The best part - if the dye doens't take evenly - it won't matter. I made a HUGE one for my son's room using a similar method - custom colored & for less than $5. It was some work...but worth it. I also tied his using strip of rag rather than stitching (as stitching was going to take forever & with knots - he could help. We were able to use the knots as places to add accents & did so using strips of old plaid shirts. For a super comfy rug to set on you can use old t-shirts or t-shirt sheets too. VERY soft! You made me inspired though to use some new fabrics that I actually like rather than always just using up what is on hand I LOVE the cheerfulness of your rug. :) GREAT tutorial! Makes me want to do a new rug!
Why buy material when there is plenty out there in your own home? I use t-shirts, old button down shirts, worn out sheets, etc. After all, isn't that why they were once called "rag rugs"? Carrying on Oma's tradition of reduce reuse recycle!
This is an awesome tutorial!! Thank you!! :D
I just finished my rug and had to thank you for posting this wonderful tutorial! I am about as uncrafty as a girl can be but totally enjoy creating things.... My rug isn't nearly as pretty as yours but it's just lovely in its imperfection :-) I used a super snuggly lightweight velour with the "Amelia" honeybun and am as pleased as punch. Thank you so much, I'm now totally motivated to try out some other projects!
Thank you so much for making a wonderful and easy to understand tutorial. I have always loved the braided look, but thought they were hard to do . I crochet rag rugs and also locker hook, but now I'm going to try this.. I have gotten a little out of control buying all these beautiful sheets that I have to make more. This will keep me from getting bored. Thanks again for sharing.
The strips are 1 1/2 inches wide but how long are they? I wanted to make this but with scrap material. How long should the strips be?
a honey bun strip is 44" long - hope that helps!
Great tutorial! You've been featured on the Quality Sewing Tutorials blog.
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So beautiful in these colors and all the white! Tip: shorten two of your original strips to different lengths, so the joins are offset.
Gail, iliaine
I love the rug but I also want to know about the quilt that is under the rug in some of the photos! It looks like it has little raggedy patches and I want to know more about it! my e-mail is pdj51@cox.net
This is a great article! I found this site Braided Rugs to be good if you are looking for Braided rugs for your home!
About how many yards of fabric are in each honey bun?
Your rug is so lovely and thanks for posting the tutorial! I have this linked to my rugs post as well today, for inspiration.
When you were braiding, did you always have two strips of white and one of colour? Or does it vary throughout the rug?
I'm just about to give away some of my unused stash and this would be a great way to use it!
What's the diameter of the rug? I love it and would LOVE to make large one for my living room
Awesome tutorial! Thank you! I have Pin'd this.
Simply Fabulous! TThanks for the Tute. B-)
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