One of my favorite things to create are my Rag rugs or Braided rugs. My Aunt also taught me this fun way of making rugs. I like to use a 3/4 crochet hook the best, it make working with the fabric a little easier.
I usually look for sheets, cotton sheets mostly and I find these sheets in secondhand stores. What's nice about this its cost is little, and you can find a variety of designs in sheets. I usually look for king or queen size sheets, this makes a fair sized rag rug. But sometimes I will buy twin so to mix up the coloring of the rug. Some of the other nice things about using sheets is they are easy to spilt apart and tear into strips. I love to tear 2 inch strips if possbile, this makes a nice heavy rug.
I will tear the strips and knot them all together then roll the fabric into a ball just like yarn for easier handling.
Sometimes I will tear smaller strips when using heavier fabrics, such as wools, flannels, in the case of the rug I am now working on, I used larger strips with the purple flannel.
It will take me between 2-3 days working on one rug to complete it, the larger the rug the more time it will take to make it.
Oh yes, sometimes I will find secondhand fabric or buy discounted fabric and sometimes I cannot tear strips but have to cut the strips this is a little more time consuming but I often will get a neat contrast in the rugs.
I just use a basic crochet stitch to make each rug and each rug never comes out the same. I do not use patterns I just use my thinking cap when designing each rug. I like that each rug never comes out the same because thats what makes them so orignial. You can find all my rag rugs in http://www.franklyitskuteproductions.com
This is my store and the rugs are under crochet rag rugs.
