Rag Rug Tutorial

Before I begin, let me warn you that this is a very time consuming project! It took me a whole week to complete it. Every time my daughter took a nap, jumped in her jump jump, or daddy was home to play with her, I worked on it. BUT, it turned out adorable! Besides the curtains I made for Aubree's room, this is my favorite project. I used this for my daughter's 6 month pictures.  Now let's just hope I have another girl, so I can make her room pink. 

Materials:

• Scissors
• Tweezers
• Yard Stick or ruler
• Non-slip Rug Underlay (I used 4 - 18x24 of these to make a 3x4 foot rug).
• 5 to 6 yards of fabrics in three colors (Mine was pink, light pink, and white) You may need more or less depending on how big you make the rug and how full/fluffy you want the rug. I made 4 trips to JoAnn to buy more fabric, so just get more than you think!

Start by cutting the fabric into pieces. I did long strips first and then cut them in half and then half again (make sure you cut down the center of the fabric and keep it folded in half). You can use a yard stick to measure if you want. I used it to measure my initial piece because I wanted to make sure that it was long enough, but then free handed the rest of it. 

 You can see here that the strips were about 1" by 5". They don't have to be exact though...it is a "rag" rug after all. 

Here is my three piles after cutting my first batch of fabric. I returned to the cutting table many, many more times. You will get the hang of cutting and will be a pro before long!

 This is the pad I found at the Dollar Tree. I had to drive to a few different ones to find four because I wanted the rug to be big enough that you wouldn't see my tile floor when I took her pictures. 

 If you use more than one, take a couple strips and tie the four pieces together. Do them relatively close; it will make it easier when you are making it because as you pull so does the seams. 

 Then begin to pull pieces through the holes using tweezers. I had started just pulling with my fingers and that got old real quick. I like to think of the tweezers like a crochet hook! Once you get a rhythm you just keep going. 

 You don't need to follow a pattern with the colors or the holes (this is why I loved this project so much, it doesn't need to be perfect to look great!).

I would start at the top and work my way down and then go back up. Here is the back so you can see what it looks like. There is no reason to tie the pieces; you'll see they are pretty snug.

 You will need your other hand to push it back to get to the holes. It's much harder to go back through and add pieces, so don't skimp like I did! Sometimes the hole would break while I was pulling a piece through...you can't see it when it's finished, so don't worry if this happens to you. 

This is after one day! Only 1/6 done! At this point I thought about giving up and going to buy a rug. Glad I didn't. But I did have to make another trip to JoAnn. Twice I went and they were out of the hot pink color, apparently it's very popular. 

 Here is what it looks like finished. All set up and ready for my photo shoot! 

It is much bigger than it looks in this picture, but I wanted you to see the full finished product! 

Hope you enjoy your rag rug as much as I do! Happy crafting. :)

Easy Fabric Bow

This tutorial will help you make this beautiful fabric bow! These are my new favorite not only because they are easy, but I think they look great too! You will need a sewing machine for this one.

You will also need:
-scissors
-fabric in any color
-headband elastic
-glue gun
-sewing machine
- little jewels (optional) you could use buttons or any other trinket you have laying around.

First, cut a long strip of fabric about two inches wide and a little less than a yard long. It doesn't have to be exact. Scallop one edge of the fabric like this. I folded my strip first and cut through a couple layers. Just make sure you don't cut it apart. You want it to stay in one piece.

Now run the fabric strip through your sewing machine for one long stitch on the non-scalloped side. Set your sewing machine length to the largest number. Mine is 4. This is how you make a ruffle. (I learned how to do this over the summer when I was making curtains and a bed skirt for my daughter's room. It is so easy and looks cute in so many projects!)

Once you have the stitch, flip it over and pull the string from underneath. You will see the loops. Be careful not to pull to hard or you will break the thread. Keep pulling the fabric down the thread until the whole strip is ruffled. 

It will curl up, which is ok because you will be swirling it up anyways.

Now use your glue gun to begin twisting it into a stack. I start by putting glue on the end (along the stitch) and then twisting it to form the top of the bow. Since this is the top, you may want to play with it before putting glue on it because this will be the main part you see. 

Keep twisting and glueing. Make each layer fan out a little more so you can see the petals. 

Once you have a completed stack of layers, open up the sides and add glue to make the flower secure and from flopping open in the wind. I like to pinch the whole flower to make sure all the glue adheres. 

Once the flower is all glued, trim any exposed thread off. Glue the jewels or buttons in the middle of the flower. This is a great way to hide the beginning seam.

Now make the head band. I like this elastic headband material because you can cut it and make different sizes and get more than one out of the package. I have only found it at Michael's. 

Measure and cut the elastic. My daughter is 3 months and I made hers about 15 inches. It's better to be bigger than too small because their heads grow so fast! Glue the ends together. 

Glue the headband to the flower. I like to glue down the seam, so the band looks seamless. Pick up the sides of the headband and add glue to make the headband and flower secure. 

Viola! You just made a beautiful fabric bow. Make sure you let it cool before trying it on! 

Try different colors and different jewels in the middle. I'd love to see what you create!