Progress on rug

So far the rug is about 32 inches across when done should be about 60 inches. This rug when completed is a gift for my children's piano teacher. It is hard to explain how nice of a person she is. Not only is she their teacher she is my friend and a great lady. This is a thank you for everything she has done for my family over the years. Mrs. Bear-Hunter is a great lady to say the least that isn't her real name just what my kids call her.

The item to the right is my braiding stand. It has gotten kind of wobbly from all the use I have given it. Any craft table will work to attach your braid clamp to. In time I hope to make a better one. Sort of an over grown crate with room to put my feet inside of it to balance it as I braid and with shelves to put my supplies on. The shelves would be inside the box right above my knees this would be much better than what I have. I just thought you all might want to see this any way as it is a tool I use religiously when braiding. Also notice you can use rubber bands instead of real aids or safety pins any thing goes.

If you noticed in the photos I have done a color change, actually three of them, white to cream, red to plaid red and medium khaki to a little darker khaki. It is hard to see where I changed the colors If you do it the way I explained it will be hard for others to see it too. In the photo below the color change is happening just above the needle and another to the left and up a little if you want to find it click on photo for a blow up. this is the back of the rug they are harder to find on the front. But i stitch from the back when lacing. So I never see the front of the rug till I am all done and flip it over. The rug is reversible I just like one side more than the other.

The colors are those in the piano teachers house. She knows she is getting this gift and I wanted it to work with in her home so she picked the colors.

Part 6: How to change colors

Once you have a length of braid laced together and want to change colors. Look to the safety pin you placed in the beginning or your rug. Take a straight line from the end of it to the edge of the rug. In the above photo I have laid my needle to show this imaginary line.

In my case at this point in the rug I wanted to change two strands. As I like to let the fabric sometime dictate when I change colors. In this case two colors are not able to make another complete round. Place a T pin in the piece of the braid you want to cut you can change 1, 2, or all 3 strands at the same time.I have also made rugs where I change all three colors every round. That is a lot of work but the results are amazing.

Place the T on the out side of the braid and place it close to the edge of the braid over lapping it. The pin placement is important. Because when you cut this spot and sew your seam should lay under the strand next to it and the join can not bee see from either side of the rug. The colors change where you can not see them.

Now cut your fabric to the right of the pins.

Unbraid and unlace a few inches back at this point to make it easier to add on your new fabric. I am changing white for tan and red for a brick red plaid.

The way you add fabric is the same way you started the rug with the 45 degree angle to stitch two pieces together. I stitch this buy hand when adding a new color when just joining the same color I do that by machine. The reason for the different ways is when I am just adding the same color I can do that at any time and have a long enough length to take to the machine. When changing colors I am about 5 inches from where the rug is braided and laced together making it hard to manipulate at the machine. I have done it both ways. If I have my machine sitting on the floor then it is sometimes easier to do this step on a machine. When making a jean rug if you plan to change color every round this is a good suggestion of setting your machine on the floor next to where you want to change colors as stitch through jean is hard on the hands woo is easy. I did mine scrappy on the jean so it didn't matter.

In these two photos I have traced (not well mind you) the two new pieces of fabric that have been changed changed. This is so you can see because of where we cut it the old colors disappear at an angle into the center making them blend better when laced together making the color change harder to see in the rug.

On a side note another tool I use is a clothes pin. When I want to set my work down and not have the braid undue itself just place a clothes pin over the ends saves redoing a few braids each time you stop,

Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools

supplies and tools

• glove to protect hand you pull thread with I am right handed the glove is worn on my left but you can wear one on both hands if you want. I have leather thimbles over the fingers of my glove to save my fingers more. All the damage you see to this glove is from braiding same goes for the thimbles.
• bodkins or needles My favorite is the top one it is from my Great Aunt she used it to make rugs over 60 years ago. Next is the one below it found thrifting. The bottom ones are the type you find at most stores in a package like to the right in the photo. I don't like them to short in my opinion. They are hard to manipulate.
• 6 ply linen cord. You can also get a nice thick strong cord from any cobbler. They have two types waxed and unwaxed. Unwaxed is cheaper waxed is twice as much. I repaired a few of my Great Aunts rugs right before she died and realized she had used waxed cord on some and unwaxed on others. The waxed cords where still pliable and subtle where the other cords had become dry and brittle. I don't have waxed cord to use but I think for the long run it is better. But it has a draw back it is hard to get a knot to seat in it very well. Thus it makes sewing (lacing) harder to do. But if I had both types of cord I would use the waxed over the other just for the durability of it.
• swinging gate clamp. This is used when braiding but I realized I didn't show it in the last post with an explanation so I am tossing it in now. This is used to hold my braid when braiding. I can push the braid away from me and the gate swings open to let it move through the gate. If I pull towards me the gate holds firm and doesn't let the braid move very useful when braiding highly recommended. Clamps to most tables.
• and of course you need a length of braid to stitch together

First you will need to cut a length of cord. Tie a knot at the tail and right after the needle or bodkin to make it easier to stitch.
OK on to explaining how to lace the braids together. Just so we all know this is hard to explain in writing for me and easy to demo in real life. So if you have questions please ask as I may have missed a photo but I don't think so.

• Insert needle into the top of the t start make sure to go through some of the fabric inside the braid to secure the knot cut excess threads hanging out
• pass your needle inside the braid till you pop the needle out on the inside of the curve 3 twists down on the inside curve of the braid.
• go back up to the first l over m and stitch under the braid you are not catching any fibers any more just going in between the strands of the braid.
• now skip the strand next to the spot where the needle popped out of the braid the first time pass needle through the space between the strands. Picture of needle point at the red strand shows that I am skipping that strand.
• back to the top of the t start pass needle under the first r over m
• back to other attaching new braid skipping next strand on braid stitch under the next. In other words ever other stand is being stitched. In my case I am skipping the reds. These skips are known as increases and is adding bulk to the rug edge to make it easier to make the curves. You only do increases on the braid that is being attached to the rug. You NEVER skip any braid strand on the part of the rug that has already been attached.
• back to t star and stitch through the second r over m
• continue in this pattern until you get to where both sides of the braid you are adding to the rug have three colors in their twists. In other wards till you get past the apple peals.
• Place a safety pin at the t start pointing away from the t this will point to where you will make all your color changes latter in the rug.
• You will continue lacing the braid to the rug. But now you only make increases where needed this takes some practice. You can place t pins in the rug to make sure you are staggering your increases. If you don't stagger them your rug will not be round but will have a free form shape especially if you always do them in the same spot. You increase when you feel you have to stretch the braid to make the next lacing. If you don't have to stretch it then don't increase. If your rug is cupping you have not done enough increase tear out lacing and do that part again. If your rug has a wavy effect you have to many increases tear out that part and stitch again with less increases. If your fabrics are not the same weight both of these two things can happen too. It just takes practice to know which is happening. If you switch to a fatter or heaver weight wool do not increase that round. If you switch to a lighter or thinner weight wool you will have many more increases that round. Best to stay to one weight.
• Wool rugs are very cushy and thick some people are surprised by this when they make the rug. Trust me your shoulders will know you are working with something heavy.
• when stitching make sure to pull your linen cord hard to pull lacing stitches together. With wool, cotton toweling, and plain quilters cotton your stitching should not show, with jeans that is a differnt story. As the jeans don't give much to hid the stitches. I like my stitches to be hidden have only made one jean rug for this reason, I don't like to walk on what is holding the rug together. Because if the stitches show that means they are being walked on as well as the vacuum is beating on them wearing them out fast. Since the lacing cord is not as thick as the rug is it wears out soon and you will have to make repairs. This is one of the main reasons I will not buy store rugs as they have little tiny sewing machine thread holding the braids together on the outside of the rug not hidden in side like the ones I make. So it doesn't take much wear to wear out those threads and then your rug falls apart. My Great Aunts (the ones still living) are still using the rugs that they and my great grandmother made over 60 years ago and they still have 60 more years or more of wear left in them. I only repaired 6 holes in over 13 rugs in their house (to hard of work for their 90 plus year bodies) and those holes were made by the kitchen tables legs wearing out the fabric from sitting in the same spot for so long. In other words the rugs where like steel if made well and flipped and rotated often like at spring cleaning time.
• When your thread starts to get short also shown in the picture below you will need to add more cording. You can use a square knot or a weavers knot. I use a square knot but both would work great. The weavers knot would be a better choice for waxed thread. When adding thread leave the tails long. So when you stitch the tails can be woven under many braid strands to hold the knot secure and to keep it from untieing and unlacing.
  

Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

Part 4: Braided Rug Apple peals

R= right
m= middle
l= left

There are two ways of starting this type of braid once you have a t start

the version I use is listed first the second version the one I don't use is listed second both work great

Start with the apple peal it self

1. r over m
2. r over m ( make sure when you are braiding you are keeping the raw edges turned inside so that it continues to have the shape you stitched closed with out the extra stitches
3. l over m pull hard on the piece of the braid that was left over middle 1 complete apple peal made, this picture, the one below, shows one more step than indicated in instructions above, it shows the next r over m , r over m as well as the l over m talked about above then the second apple peel is started with 2 r over m
4. Do 8 of these including the first one in the 8 If done correctly on the left side of the braid will only be two colors where the right side has all three but one color is ever other twist
5. then start plain braiding, r over m, l over m keep braid tight and firm this isn't like hair where you want a long braid but a short stocky braid. Make sure you are turning in your raw edges

If I can get my husband to do it for me I will make a little video latter and add it to this post showing how to turn ends in while braiding.




Version 2

1. start with normal braid ( r over m, l over m) then start "apple peal" see above

Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

Part 3: Tutorial braided rug T start

1. Fold inside strip for the starting of the braid over on itself to hide all raw ends. Fold down top, fold up the bottom, then fold all to center; should look like a heart shape from the end.
2. Stitch this tube closed for about 2 inches. I am using bright colored thread so you can see it; usually you should try to make it match your wool color.
   
3. Using the previous seam from last post in tutorial that I showed with the 45-degree angle, we will start our T-started rug. This is the first strip; it is two colors
   
4. Attach second strip to inside seam of first. I do this by hand; I guess you could do it by machine, but it would be very awkward.
5. Fold over first the strip (cream and green) and stitch closed for about 2 inches on both sides of second strip (red). When stitching this closed, make sure to stitch both sides back and forth for a strong connection to the steam coming out of the top of the T; also stitch to the red, too, so all is closed up. With this technique, your starts will be very smooth and it will be hard to see where the two top fabrics (khaki green and cream, in this case) are joined together.

This is all there is to a T start.

It is good to start with a light, medium, and dark color; if you start with too many darks, it sort of looks like a bulls eye in the middle of your work. Now, if you want that look, go for it; not every one does.

On a side note:

Sorry for the messy nails; stripping wool gets lots of wool-fiber dust under your nails, not a neat job. Expect to get a little fiber dust under your nails and all over your house.


Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

Rug Braiding tutorial updates

I am going to try and post at least three more parts of this in the next seven days. That way, if people want to get it started before their kids get out of school, they can. This is a nice summer project all ready and set to go when they have a minute here and there to add to the length. If you didn't guess it already, it was my day off today and no school, so I got to work on my tutorial.

Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

Part 2: Braided Rug tutorial

Sewing Strips Together

So, I cleaned the sewing room so I could instantly make a mess with this project. Above photo: stacks of wool for making the rug.

The strips are sewn together at a 45-degree angle. This is used to change colors and to add more of the same color to the current strip being used. This is also used in the beginning when you have three colors starting at the same time.

1. Lay ends of wool strips that you have cut at right angles to each other.
   
2. Sew from corner to corner, a 45 degree-angle, right sides together.
   
3. Trim off excess wool; leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch-wide seam allowance.
   

The reason the seam is sewn at a 45 degree angle is to reduce bulk in the braid because it spreads it out over about an inch instead of putting all the bulk in one spot.

When braiding, you need one of your strands to be short; there are a few ways of doing this.

• One is to leave two long strands and constantly add to the third strand.
• Another is leave all three strands short and add to all three as needed.
• I don't like to do either of these methods because it breaks the rhythm of braiding. So, I leave two strands real long and the third strand is left sort of long, but in the form of a reel, which makes its over-all braiding length short.

You can do any of the above that works best for you. Two are pretty much self explanatory, the last I will explain a little better.

I like using a braid aid reel; the only thing was, it didn't hold enough in my opinion - only 5 yards.

So, I bent an old wire clothes hanger and attached it to the bottom of the reel tool to make it longer and hold more. At the bottom of the bends I placed a piece of PVC pipe to help the wool roll around the wire better for ease in braiding.

Wool wound in a circle/reel with a hole big enough in the center to accommodate the pvc pipe.

Extension inside wool.

Remove pin from Reel aid and attach to extension.

Wool strips feed through the tool.

I don't use the reel to fold the fabric; I just use it to hold more fabric. You can use braid aids on all your strips to help you fold, especially if you have arthritis or something of that sort. Personally, it is easier to braid without the gizmos and creates less fiber dust, too. That is why I now prefer to use just the one, the reel, to speed up the braid time by not having to stop so much to sew more strips on. But I leave the other strips without the tool because it is faster for me.

If you don't have, or don't want to buy, a reel-aid tool, you can do the same thing with a safety pin and just undo a loop every time you need more of the strip to braid. I do this, too. I am trying to give you as many options as possible on how to do this so it is the cheapest for you in the long run in case you do not want to invest in a lot of tools.

Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

Part 1: how to make a braided round rug (prep work)

I am going to do a series of tutorials because it will take a few posts to make this. Many people have asked how to do this, as well as a sister-in-law. So, for hers and your benefit, here we go with the first tutorial on how to make a round braided rug. Why round? It is the easiest to make first, ovals next, corners and odd shapes the hardest and last.

So, here is the start of the round rug.

Supplies for this step:

• Scissors/ruler or rotary cutter/mat
  
• fabric can be wool (easiest to work with if you are not allergic to wool, that is). jean (denim, hardest on the hands to work with), cotton (very thin; won't last long), cotton toweling (easy to work with, just messy when cutting strips and braiding -- little tufts of toweling everywhere), or any thing you like (I hate using synthetics for this, but if you just have tons of polyester, go for it just [eww] don't show me, I don't know how it is to work with because I have never used it, nor do I want to)
  
• washing machine/soap/cycle on hot water, dryer
  

Steps in prep work:

1. Acquiring the fabric. You can collect old towels to use in making a bath mat, or worn out jeans to make a kid's playroom rug. Some people use scrapes of cotton yardage that they will never use to make anything else. I don't do this because I feel it is too much work to use such a thin material. The result is lovely, but it takes 5 times the work and supplies and doesn't last even half as long as a wool one. You can use wool mill ends if you have a place near you ,such as Pendleton woolen mills. Now this I do like: cheap price, but high-quality material. If you get your fabric from old clothes, you will have to tear down the old clothes getting rid of all seams and such because they are not useful at all. This is a lot more work, but if you have clothes from a deceased relative, it can be rewarding, too, or if they are clothes your children have worn and such.
   
2. Wash all fabric first in very hot water to shrink them and set colors, and dry on high heat in dryer to shrink it as much as possible before use. This will also help in getting rid of and killing any moths that may be in the fabric, if using wool. I also, afterward, stored my wool in big black garbage bags with moth crystals for three weeks to make sure I don't bring moths into my home; that would be a nightmare at my house!
   
3. Cut fabric into 1 1/2 inch-wide strips, for wool. For jeans, I would use 3 inch-wide strips, and same goes for toweling and cotton fabric. Cut strips with the grain or cross grain of the fabric, never on the bias; bias has stretching issues when braiding, and that is not good. You can tear the fabric; for this, cut small snips at one end of the fabric and just tear to the other side. This makes sure that all your strips are uniform and with the grain or cross grain of the fabric. If you want to cut all the fabric with a rotary cutter, that works, too; just might be on the bias if you are not careful...

Part 1: Prep work and cutting fabric
Part 2: Will be about sewing the strips together and forming reels
Part 3: About starting a t-started rug
Part 4: How to start a round rug, apple peel style
Part 5: Sewing and increases / tools
Part 6: How to change colors
Part 7: Ending in a taper
Part 8: Butting last one or two rows of the rug for a smooth finish

These tutorials will be all about making a braided round rug. If after this everyone likes the tutorials, I will add one on how to make an oval rug; it has a different starting. I will also explain the math involved in the increases and figuring out a finished size of an oval rug. This is useful if you want to make a rug for a special space that you will want to fit with an oval.

I do have a group on flickr about handmade rugs; you are welcome to check it out.

Jean rug I made laying on top of a wool rug I made. I was still working on this jean rug when this photo was taken (and still currently am making it bigger). I don't keep rugs on top of each other as a normal practice.

Below is a rug I made from towels that had been well loved and became real worn out and old. They had all been gifts to us at our wedding, so I wanted to save them and make them useful. Thus, a rug was born made out of towels to make a bath mat. You can use brand new towels; it will give you a much softer and fluffier rug. Warning: when cutting towels, it is the messiest of all the fabrics I have mentioned. Do this, the cutting and braiding, in the garage or outside, or you will have a huge mess to clean up.

This is the wool rug, known in our house as the ladybug rug, this is below the jean rug in the other photo. two up.

All the pictures above are of oval rugs, except the first one. I have made many round rugs, but the pictured one I have given away to family members. Even the one in my home was a gift to my husband, so I don't actually own that one, either. The top round rug was never finished because, at that time, I didn't know how to butt the ends of a row so it ends at the tapered row. Both ways are fine; one is just stronger. At some point I will go back and finish my husband's rug, if he lets me he likes it the way it is. I think it still needs two rows of butted braid.

X is for ...

X-tra yoyos made into a yoyo runner. Started on Sept 2; finished on September 3. You can also see one of my hex afghans underway, next to the bench in the yellow basket. I also made the braided rug you see in the bottom of the photo.

I had a bag of yoyos from swaps, and ones I made that were just collecting, and it seemed like they were spawning in that bag. They were not being used, so yesterday I decided I would make a runner out of them to use who knows where. I may add to it at a later time, or I may not. There is a diamond pattern in this mini quilt that is a cluster of four different hues in the same color family. These are laid out more as I would hexagons and not yoyos, but it makes a pretty close solid piece of cloth. I'm wishing I had done this with my daughter's blanket. Instead of having each yoyo only touch four other yoyos, here they touch six others. It would have made a stronger blanket for a kid, but since that started out as a table topper, I didn't know it would end up a blanket.

I had a hay fever sinus headache yesterday; that is what started this project. I wanted something to do that was quick and that wouldn't involve being outside at all.

4 yards 4 inches

I finished my #7 item for the 25 motif tatting challenge, and ended up with 4 yards and 4 inches of this lace. I finished it yesterday while sitting in a class on how to teach kids to quilt. My three daughters (i.e. kids) were in the class with me. So, now I guess I am on to #8; I just haven't figured out what that is, yet.


This braided rug I made a long time ago. Since I was sitting on the floor to take the picture of the tatting, I thought I would get a close up picture of the braids on this rug.

This used to be the rug in my old sewing room at my old home. It almost never got walked on because you couldn't walk into that room, it was so crowded. Now it is one of three rugs in my family room. It took about 3 weeks to make and is 6 feet by 8 1/2 feet. Seen in bottom right of photo on this post.

Handmade rugs

If you are into making handmade rugs, or would like to learn about them, I have started a group on flickr all about handmade rugs.
http://flickr.com/groups/handmaderugs/

Prize

I got my prize in the mail today for the rug I entered in whip ups whip lash competition awhile back. I received a book on how to make rugs. Hey, it is even one I don't already have; how cool is that (sort of don't have, read below).

I sat down for only a few minuets to look at it because I have lots I have to get done today. Even if I hadn't won this book as a prize, if I had seen in a store I would have purchased it. It is great.

There are rugs in this book that will just blow your mind away. That is saying something because I have made a lot of rugs, and have seen many hand-made rugs that my relatives have made, and this still is amazing.

I actually have the older edition of this book, but the new edition has so much more stuff in it, it is like having a whole new book recommended, whether you do or don't have the old version.

Contest Winners for Whip -Up Recycled Announced

My last entry into the Whip-up monthly contest won a prize. For making the Jean Rug I get a craft book. It was fun to make and I get to keep the rug and get a book too. How cool is that!!

The next round starts today; it is supposed to be a tutorial. So yep, you guessed it, a new tutorial is in the works. It's already in my head, and I have 18 whole days to do it.

Part 6: Finished / For the time being

I finished the rug, sort of. I left the end undone and not a tapered finish like I would have done normally. This is because as we wear out more jeans I can make the rug bigger. So, I think this will be a continuing rug for a few years but it will be able to be used while it is growing and in between growth spurts. Boy it sounds like a kid!
This took seven days from start to finish.
Dimensions 3 1/2 feet by 8 1/2 feet
Part 1: here
Part 2: here
Part 3: here
Part 4: here
Part 5:here
Part 6:this is it

whipup

Part 5: Braids

Well, I have braided every scrap of denim in the house, all that we had worn out, that is. This gives you an idea of the size of the rug and the look of it. If you look you can see a yellow size small womans glove in the top left of the photo for a size reference.I did all this last bit of braiding in the last two days. I hope to get the rug all stitched today and call it good. This is one of the fastest rugs I have made and trust me, my hands feel the burn from doing so much work with a fiber that doesn't want to play nice. It is a little hard on the hands to braid, but the real hard part is stitching the braids together. Last night when I went to bed my hands had swollen some. They are ok right now and ready for more punishment. I have truly done a whiplash to my hands on this one.
Part 1 here
Part 2 here
Part 3 here
Part 4 here
Part 5 this is it
Part 6: here the end

whipup

Part 4: More reels

So I emptied out the other box in the attic to discover it was mostly blue and one purple. Oh well it is what I have so it will work. I sewed them all up and made reels. Then I got to braiding. I braided 4 more rounds; roughly 8 inches have been added in width and length. Then late last night my husband said, "Oh I have some jeans you could use for this; they are in my closet." Great! I could have used them the day before so the colors would be more random; that is life. I think it will still work well; I have a little bit left from Saturday left to braid. So, if I use those for two parts of the braid and the tan, light khaki and blue my husband had for the other part of the braid, maybe it will still blend in with the rest pretty well . If not, it is a scrappy rug by nature and it is totally being controlled by faith that it will work out well.
Part 1 here
Part 2 here
Part 3 here
Part 4 this is it
Part 5 here
Part 6: here the end


whipup

Part 3: 2 feet by 7 feet

I have been working on the recycled rug a lot the last few days. I have used up all the denim I had made into reels. I have another box of old jeans that I had been storing in my attic 'till I figured out what to do with them, so now I will cut them up and add them to this rug. As of right now, the rug is two feet by seven feet. I hope to get it to four and half feet by nine and half feet. That will make a nice little rug for a kids room or play room.

I have been asked what does my needle look like and what size thread do I use. The blue sewing thread in the picture is to stitch the denim together.;linen six-ply cord white/cream is in the middle of the picture, and that is one of my needles. I have a larger one; I just can't find it right now. The linen and big needle are used to stitch the braids to the rug.


Part 1: here
Part 2: here
Part 3: this is it
Part 4: here
Part 5: here
Part 6: here the end



whipup

Update on Rug / WIP part 2

I have been working on the rug the last few days. I have twelve rows braided and eight sewn to the rug. It is interesting to watch where the colors end up. All the strips had been tossed in a random pile and mixed up by three kids. Then they were grabbed at random by three little kids and handed to me to sew, making about twenty random wheels/reels to grab from as I braided. What is funny is that all the pink from one pair of jeans is pretty much ending up on one end and one side of the rug. I don't mind; it's just interesting. I think the rug is coming out nice.

The top photo shows the rug with the twelve rows around it after they have been braided and five of them stitched in place. The bottom one shows eight rows stitched in place.

The yellow glove in the photos is what I wear to keep my hands from getting cut up. It is hard to see in the photos, but if you look closely, you will see a five inch needle; that is what I am using to stitch the braids to the rug. Bottom photo, left side near glove, you can see it the best.

Dimensions of rug currently are one foot four inches wide by six feet four inches long. When all twelve rows are stitched to it, the measurement will be two feet wide by seven feet long.
Part 1 here
this is part 2
Part 3 here
Part 4: here
Part 5: here
Part 6: here the end


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Whiplash/Jeans part 1

I decided to make a rug for whip-ups whiplash recycled project which turned into two projects. First I collected a lot of jeans, not hard since I have kids who keep wearing theirs out. Then cut off the legs to make three inch wide strips. I wanted rows of colors, but with little kids there just isn't enough jean material in one pair of pants to make a complete row, so each row is a scattering of different colors. I just tossed them into a big tote to mix them all together. This was great fun for the kids.

Then I just sat down and started sewing; the kids would grab random pieces for me to sew into real long stripes. When I got about thirteen pieces sewn together, I would fold the strip in half length wise and wind it up into reels. This way a lot of yardage was ready to braid.
Next I just started the braiding. After a few yards were braided, I figured out the length I wanted the rug to start at. To get that measurement you take the measurements of the room you want to fill. Take the length and width and find the difference; that is your starting length for the center of the rug. Next I started to stitch them together to form the rug. I will not be able to complete this before whiplash ends; that will take many more weeks, but the idea is here and it is started. I think this would be a nice rug for a little kids' play room. This way if they spill something on it, it isn't a big deal, like my nice big wool rugs that I made which need special care. This can just go to the dry cleaners.

Because I was only using the legs of the jeans in the rug ,I still had the top half to do something with. I decided to make a quilt out of just the pockets, both front and back pockets, and any that where on the side of the legs, too. The layout when all complete will be nine pockets by eighteen pockets. I think once this top is done it will be good to use any scraps left to make a jean back for it and tie it. This will make a really big, thick picnic blanket so the cold doesn't go through. It could also make a real nice kid's blanket. If your kids are like mine, every stuffed animal in the room is on their bed. Maybe they can tuck a few of the little ones in the bottom pockets (no pun intended, I meant the ones at the end of the bed or sides, hanging off) and they won't have to clean up so much all the time. If I had made it shorter I could have made hooks to hang over their bedroom door and they could have put their Barbies in it for safe, visible storage.

The only things I didn't figure out how to use up was all those zippers. The labels from the jeans are also used; they are being sewn on to the quilt.
Part 1: this is it
Part 2: February 16: Update on rug progress here.
Part 3: February 17: Update on rug progress here
Part 4: here
Part 5: here
Part 6: here the end

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Sunshine's Creations at MJF

In case you didn't come here from MJF. Here is a link to some other items I have made; lots of bonnets and dresses and other items.