Every once and a while I decide that rug making would be kind of cool. But it never goes as planned. I started this rug for the landing on my basement stairwell using a locker hook technique. I thought it would take a few weeks. Two years later, my family laughs at me when I take out the project to work on it.
I am determined to finish this project some day. And I like the color scheme. So I am going to blog about it and hopefully you will join me in the journey.
To make this type of rug, you will need rug canvas, fabric to cut into strips, yarn or string and a locker hook. A locker hook looks like a needle on one end and a crochet hook on the other. I used canvas that had four squares per inch.
To begin, I took custom measurements of the space, which has some notches. When it is finally done, it will fit perfectly. I cut it the canvas leaving four or five excess rows at the edge. I hand stitched two pieces of canvas together because neither piece I purchased was large enough. I overlapped several rows. I also covered the outside canvas with duct tape so it didn't poke me.
Then I started cutting one inch strips of fabric. I started with my son's old holey pants, then added torn sheets, socks and t-shirts to the mix. Several articles of old clothing have ended up in this project so far. I initially cute strips about an inch wide. I found that the thicker fabrics were hard to work with and started cutting them more narrowly. I tapered the ends and cut a small slit so I could later join the strips.
To start fabric to the canvas, I threaded the needle with the yarn and knotted it on the canvas. I decided the perimeter would be black.Then, I took the first strip of fabric and placed it under the canvas while keeping the hook on top of the canvas, then used the hook end to pull a loop through to the top. I left a tail so I could knot it with another piece of fabric later. To secure the loop I pulled the yarn through it.
All subsequent stitches are made in the same manner. I joined the fabric strips as I reached the end of the one I was hooking. To do that I fed the second strip stop through the slit on the first, then threaded that end on the second strip through the other slit on the second strip and pulled it through.
This is what the finished stitches look like. Some day, I look forward to showing off the final rug.
