Make a rug using old t-shirts
This weekend it was time to shop for clothes for the cooler weather. It was also time to sort out my drawers to make space for new clothes, which brought to mind a fun way to re-purpose old t-shirts into rugs for the home.
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I managed to put together a substantial collection of old t-shirts and these can be re-purposed into rag rugs or the home, especially if you have tiled floors that get chilly during the winter months.
GOOD TO KNOW
You can use food colouring to stain light
coloured t-shirts if you want to crochet a rug
in colourful hues, or even varying shades of the
same hue. Add differing amounts of water to the
food stain to achieve the shade of colour that
you want for your project.
You will also need some t-shirt yarn for this project, so that it is easy to crochet long sections without too many joins. Click here for easy instructions on how to make t-shirt yarn.
Cotton t-shirts are best for this type of project, especially if you want to use food colouring to change the colour.
Follow the instructions to make t-shirt yarn and loosely roll these into small balls. It's important not to roll the balls to tightly - you want the t-shirt yarn to unravel easily when you start to crochet.
The crochet stitch used to make a t-shirt rag rug can be a magic circle or chain 2 method. Use a large crochet hook and start with 6 SC in the first round, doubled it to 12 in the second round, and slowly increased by multiples of 6 beyond that. In this way you are adding 6 stitches to the circle as you complete a circular row, so that eventually you end up with a large circle shape.
Here is a list of crochet abbreviations as well as a basic introduction to crochet. This crochet rag rug is a very basic crochet project that only uses one type of crochet stitch and is a great starting project of a beginner.
1st round: 6 SC
2nd round: 2 SC in each stitch (12 stitches)
3rd round: *1 SC in next stitch, 2 SC in next stitch, repeat from * (18 stitches)
4th round: * 1 SC in next 2 stitches, 2 SC in next stitch, repeat form * (24 stitches) and so on.
GOOD TO KNOW
You want the rug to
stay flat, so if you find that the rug is
curling up - add more stitches to the circles.
If the rug is floppy - reduce the amount of
stitches. Everyone uses a different amount of
tension when crocheting, so adjust the stitches
according to how the rug is starting to take
shape as you work.
When changing from one t-shirt yarn to another, tie a small knot that will be at the back of the rug and carry on. When you reach the end, pull the yarn through the last loop and tie off.
