For the past six months I've used padded mats in my kitchen. They are comfortable when I'm standing for a long time, but they're difficult to clean and they've started to look so crappy that I just threw them in the garage one day because I hated looking at them. I couldn't find anything that I really loved, so I decided to make some old-fashioned farmhouse rugs.
I wanted them to be durable and washable, so that when my boy spills a cup of milk on one of them, I can just throw it in the washing machine. I used a heavy cotton twill. I made the braid out of 2" strips. Then I connected the braid with a wide zigzag on my sewing machine. After I had the rugs made, I dyed them dark green. They are easy and fun to make. Sometime I want to try an extra large area rug with real wool. I think I would love that.
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| Original color of the cotton twill that I used. |
Did you try to tuck in the raw edges of the twill as you braided, or did you just trim any threads that stuck out? These look good!
ReplyDeleteAs I braided, the raw edges just kind of fell to one side of the braid, so I put that side on the underside of the rug. I didn't really do any clipping at all, which was nice.
Deletethese are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
DeleteI have been braiding a tshirt rug for my daughter for 'ages'. I hope it turns out one tenth as cute as yours! How is your sister holding up with all her changes? Hope she's well.
ReplyDeleteOh I love those! Very pretty. I need some mats for my hard kitchen floor for sure. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteWow! These are great! Did you use an industrial machine to do the zig-zagging or was a leather or heavy duty needle used? I would love to try something like this, but don't want to wreck my new machine. :D
ReplyDeleteI have an industrial Bernina from the 60s. I used a regular needle and it went just fine. I thought I was going to need a heavier needle.
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