Monday, August 22, 2011

Halfway is for Sissies

As I mentioned in my previous post, my obsession with Pinterest continues to grow. The first project I decided to tackle was a crocheted rag rug. I'm no expert at crochet, but I know the basics and thankfully, that is all you need for this project. I had hoped that I could make a rug entirely out of scrap fabric that I already had on hand, but unfortunately my recent need to purge the house of junk no-longer-needed-treasures left me with little remaining in my fabric stash. There was enough to get a good start, though, and I supplemented the rest for a reasonable price by scouring the clearance fabric bin at Wal-Mart and buying 3 sheets at Goodwill.

If you are a long-time reader of my blog, you may have gathered that I tend toward the "Go big, or go home" theory with crafting. I don't mean to. I guess it's just my nature. When I was really into scrapbooking, I did it with gusto. When I started knitting, I tackled a Dale of Norway colorwork sweater as my first sweater project. So I guess it is no surprise that when I decided to crochet a rag rug, I would make one that is 4.5 feet wide.


I would have loved for it to be even bigger, but as it happened, I had EXACTLY enough fabric for this size. Since I had to buy fabric (cheap though it was) to complete it, I just wasn't willing to buy any more. This is not the color scheme I would have picked if I was actually planning a rug and buying fabric accordingly. However, I meant for it to be a rag rug made from scraps and I love the perfectly imperfect nature of it.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I *love* it! The colors are so happy and it looks beautiful against that gorgeous hardwood floor. I still want to try this someday. Was there a certain pattern/instructions you used to get started?

Julie said...

Mandi, I looked at a few tutorials but none had an actual pattern. Basically, I had a 15mm crochet hook and ripped my fabric into 1.5" (roughly) strips. Anytime I needed to add on, I just tied a knot! Chain 6, connect into a circle and just start doing single crochet stitch around, adding stitches as needed to increase. I wanted an oval, but I just shaped it by feel. Usually I would alternate an increase round and a plain round. If you Google "crochet rag rug tutorial" you'll find lots of info - or even on YouTube!

Beverly said...

I love it. I'm going to make one for my studio! Thanks for the inspiration!!