I just got a little booklet on how to make "toothbrush rugs" from a website in Colorado or somewhere and I seem to have been doing it all wrong.
This expert ("Aunt Philly") makes her rugs with two strips of rag simultaneously. I only use one strip, knotting it into the loops made in the previous row as I go along.
I am not bothered. Rug-making, to be correctly named, should result in a rug. My method does result in a rug, so presumably it is still rug-making.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Monday, 28 March 2011
Second rug project started
While staying at my parents' over the weekend I was able to make a start on my second project. I'm going to be a bit more organised this time.
The overall colour is indigo blue - I'm planning to use mainly old denim jeans - with bits of green-based checks allowed in. Each time I knot in a new rag I put a similar length in the same fabric in a "return" bag - these will be used at the end of the rug so that the pattern remains symmetrical, or pretty nearly so. That way if I pick up new sources I can still make it look more or less planned.
The width is 70cm. Note for the future; do the first row of knots quite loosely. I've packed these in too tight and immediately got into tension problems. Actually the start of this rug was rubbish though the colours are good.
I aim to get to about 150-180 cm.
I'd like to give this rug to one of my children.
The width is 70cm. Note for the future; do the first row of knots quite loosely. I've packed these in too tight and immediately got into tension problems. Actually the start of this rug was rubbish though the colours are good.
I aim to get to about 150-180 cm.
I'd like to give this rug to one of my children.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Done my first rug!
It's true that I started it last summer but I have not been working on it every evening since then. And it is not very big - just big enough to make a small bathmat.
I used a large faded green tablecloth and some old pink Laura Ashley material that had been purchased to make curtains about 30 years ago.
Pink and green - a bit 80s, I know.
But it's done, it's a slightly weird shape with a sort of waist in the middle where my tension control and edging went haywire. But it's done, and it's servicable, and I've still got lots of strips from these two items left over.
Which helps to give me an idea of what amount of fabric one needs.
Looking at this picture I have to admit it is a bloody odd shape.
I used a large faded green tablecloth and some old pink Laura Ashley material that had been purchased to make curtains about 30 years ago.
Pink and green - a bit 80s, I know.
But it's done, it's a slightly weird shape with a sort of waist in the middle where my tension control and edging went haywire. But it's done, and it's servicable, and I've still got lots of strips from these two items left over.
Looking at this picture I have to admit it is a bloody odd shape.
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