Woven Rag Rug

Thank you for all the great feedback for liking my Braided Rag Rug. I understand that not everyone has a sewing machine or/and is able to sew, so I created this no-sew rag rug DIY for the non-sewer who like to recycle their bed sheets or de-stash their fabrics to make this foot cozy Woven Rag Rug. This woven rag rug tutorial doesn’t require any weaving loom; just use a sturdy corrugated carton box from your recycle pile.

I hope everyone can do their part in greening the Earth again and reduce the rubbish that loaded the landfill, turning trash into gold. By the way, when I gave the braided rag rug to my mum, she loved it so much and immediately she went to her storeroom to dig for more old bedsheets. This is how I ended up having more old bedsheets to recycle.

After a few hours of stripping the bedsheet to prepare for the fabric strips, I am ready for the weaving process to DIY the recycled woven rag rug. I am glad that I found a big and thick carton box where I can modify it to make it into a DIY “weaving loom”. With the help of my husband to cut out the corrugated box into the correct size, I began to insert the strips into the prepared slots at the edges of the cardboard and started weaving them into a rag rug.

I love the way the mixture of the colors is presented in this woven rag rug, I didn’t make it on purpose but just to randomly gather color strips.

Let your feet feel cozy and warm with this thick, soft, Woven Rag Rug.

How To Make Woven Rag Rug

Material

1. Old bedsheets (3 king-size flat sheets, more if you have a fitted sheet)

2. Sturdy corrugated cardboard of your preferred size (mine is 28 x 20″)

3. Tapestry needle or masking tape

5. Scissor

Finished dimension: approximately 25″ x 14″

You might want to refer to the braided rag rug for some basic preparations for stripping and how to join the strips.

Mark the short side of the cardboard 1/2″ apart and 2″ down. Leave the edge 2″ wide so that the cardboard is not being weakened at the edge.
Cut it to create slots for gripping the fabric strips.

Cut or tear the old sheets into 1″ or 2″ strips. Arrange 12 or 6 strips into each slot, leaving 6″ extra for each end.
Alternate the colors between the slots to create some color patterns for the woven rag rug. You will be surprised how it turns out.
Reserve some strips for the weaving.

Take a strip and slot it into the eye of a tapestry needle and start weaving.
If you don’t have a tapestry needle, you can tape a masking tape the end of the weaving strip, this will make it easier to go through the warp strips.
Secure the tail end in the first slot.
Begin by passing through the weaving strip at the bottom of the first bunch, then on top for the second bunch, and bottom again for the 3rd bunch and so on…
Until you reach the last bunch, rotate the cardboard and continue weaving for the next row. If you ended the weaving strip at the bottom of the last bunch, then begin your second row at the top.

Since there are 12 strips in a slot, make sure you have all the strips weaved.
Pull the bunch vertically a little to straighten up the 12 strips as you go.
Repeat this until you complete the whole piece.

Weave the last row in close to the previous row, with needle up or down to make a crisscross to the previous strip, pull the weaving strip and tie the warp strips in place.
Do the same on the other end of the rag. Join a new strip to sew and tie.

Hide the weaving strip in the warp strips by passing through the strip within the weaves.

Take the woven rag rug out from the cardboard by lifting all the strips from the slots.

Trim the end to the length of bout 4″ or to your preference.
The woven rag rug is completed.