DIY Rag Rug

This is a great way to upcycle your old bedsheets. 

This is a pretty easy project. All you need are some old bed sheets and a needle and thread.

Begin by cutting your old bed sheets into 2 inch strips.  If I had my time back I would have used three colours so that the braided pattern would be more obvious. Maybe next time.

When you've cut all your sheets into strips you should have a pretty big pile. Now it's time to start braiding. 

Pin three of your strips together and anchor them to your sewing machine...or perhaps something facing your television. As you braid be sure to keep your material flat, you don't want it twisting around.

Of course, you'll want to add more strips as you go.

This part is a little bit complicated to explain but once you've done it, it's really quite simple. 

When you come to the end of a strip, make a slit in the old strip and the new strip.

Feed your new piece of material (navy) up through the first strip (white).

Next, pull the end of the new strip through the slip in the top.

When you pull them tight you should have something like this.

Continue braiding, adding strips as you go.
Eventually you'll have a long, long braid. 
It's best to roll this into a ball.
 

Now you're reading to start sewing!
I sewed mine by hand and it was rather time consuming. Next time I'll be using the machine. Other bloggers have suggested using a zigzag stitch with a medium stitch length.



 


 
Here are my stitches on the back of the rug. Sewing by hand does ensure that there are no stitches seen on the front of the rug.


 


If you want a round rug you can begin by forming a small circle and adding to it. If you prefer an oval rug it's best to lay a long line of braid and go around it (clockwise is best).
Keep sewing around keeping your rug on a flat surface to keep it from forming an odd shape.

 

 After that you just repeat! 

I pinned before sewing just to keep everything together.

 


When you've used up all of your braided material you can just sew the ends together, tuck them into your braided rug. 

The finished product!