From Old Bedsheets to New Rugs

by sherylpedersen

14K6410

Intro: From Old Bedsheets to New Rugs

I don't like to throw away anything that still has some use left in it.

Old bed sheets eventually get holes in them, making them no longer useful as sheets.

They can't be sent to a second hand store for someone else to get some use out of and I really hate to see them go into the landfill.

So I save old sheets and turn them into new rugs that are not only practical, but are also a very nice addition to your home.

These rugs are machine washable and last for many, many years.

That's Charlie in the photo, who loves to sit in the kitchen in front of the sink where the blue and white rug is now located. His new favorite spot.

We love having it on the floor as it is thick and comfortable. It gives good padding under your feet and keeps them warm when the weather is cold

The how to details are for this new blue and white rug, which is 20" x 24" in size, perfect for in front of the kitchen sink.

The larger rug is 25" x "40 inches is made the same way, just using more chain stitches to start. I will explain more as I go along.

STEP 1: Gather Your Materials

20" x 24" rug

2 flat or fitted double bed sheets

10 mm crochet hook (US size N/15 - UK size 000)

Scissors

Ruler

Large darning needle

25" x 40" rug

To make the larger rug - you need to have at least 3 bed sheets

* If you don't have any old sheets at home to use, you can purchase them for a reasonable price at a second hand shop

STEP 2: Prepare Your Fabric Strips for Crocheting

Using your scissors, trim the seams off the sheet

For a fitted sheet, you need to trim off all four corners and the top, bottom and side finished edges

For a flat sheet, you just need to trim off the top, bottom and sides of the sheet

You are going to be ripping the sheet into strip and you can start anywhere on the sheet you prefer, but I like to make the strips as long as possible so their are less joins in you bed sheet "Yarn"

Using your ruler, measure and cut 1/2" - 1" strips along the end of your sheet

Then, start to rip the sheets into 1" wide strips

Continue until you have a pile of strips ready for crocheting

* You will get lots of thread strings when you rip the sheet. Just pull these off and throw them away

* You can rip all of your sheet at once, or do it a section at a time as you begin to crochet your rug

STEP 3: Join the Strips Together

You can just tie the strips together, but that leaves large knots in your "Yarn" so I have found a lump free way of joining the strips of fabric.

Start by folding about 1" of the end of your strip and cutting into it about 1/4" so that when opened, it has about a 1/2" slit near the end of the strip.

Do the same with the next strip of fabric.

Push the strip that you are adding, through the slit in the other strip

Then take the other end of the strip you are adding and pull it all the way through the slit to make a knot as shown in the photos

STEP 4: Start to Crochet Your Rug Using Your Fabric Stips

These are instructions for the 20" x 24" rug

Use your 10 mm hook

Chain 7 sts

In the 2nd chain from the hook, sc 1 and in each of the next 5 sts

In last st, 3 sc

Turn your work so you are crocheting in the other side of the foundation chain

Sc in each of 4 sts to the end, then 2 sc in last st.

Continue to work in rounds...

3 sc in next st (corner)

Sc in 4 sts

3 sc in next st (corner)

Sc in 1 st

3 sc in next st (corner)

Sc in 5 sts

3 sc in next st (corner)

Sc in 2 sts

On your next and every round, 3 sc in each corner of your round ( the middle stitch of the previous 3 sc)

And sc in every other st between corners

Continue increasing in this way, working around the piece

Change color as desired as you work in rounds as shown in the next step

STEP 5: Join Your Second Colour

Use the same technique to join your strips as you did in step 3

Just join another color strip to change colors and continue working around the piece

You can make as many rounds as you desire until the rug is the size that you want.
In this example, I crocheted 18 rounds

STEP 6: Sew in the End of Your Fabric

Using a large darning needle, join the last st to finish the round

Then pull the end of the fabric strip though a few stitches in the back of your rug and trim the rest off to finish

STEP 7: The Larger Rug

The 25" x 40" rug is made the same way except that you start with a chain of 26 sts

And work rounds in the same manner as in step 4

This rug has a total of 25 rounds

* You can make your rug any size that you desire

9 Comments

Lozchik 7 years ago

I've done something similar for years. Old sheets, old clothes, whatever. I usually cut the sheets so it don't frey much.

mallann888 2 years ago

I just finished my first rug and had a huge problem with fraying. I cut instead of ripped all my sheets, but still ended up with little strings everywhere, to the point where I had to go over it and hand-snip all of the frays so it wouldn't look so messy. Any tips for preventing so much fraying?

Lozchik 2 years ago

Some materials a far more prone to the strings than others. That was an issue for me, too. The messiest part was always the making of. I think washing did resolve the issue. Another was to use materials that don't do that as much, if at all. Anything made out of sweatshirt material, for example. T shirts were never an issue for me, either.

sherylpedersen 2 years ago

I have never cut the strips so have never run into this problem as I always rip the strips and just pull off the excess threads. Sounds like you found the best possible solution for your rug. One idea... try washing the rug as it might make the loose ends blend in more.

sherylpedersen 7 years ago

Thanks for the tip. Cutting is less messy. I tend to go for ripping because it is easier.

Italiankiwiblog 5 years ago

I absolutely love this idea! I also hate to throw things like sheets away. I've been using this method, on a smaller scale, with old t-shirts to crochet potholders, and oven-mitts, but I didn't think of doing it with sheets.

Lincolnshirelass 7 years ago

I can't crochet, have you ever used the strips to knit with ?

?

sherylpedersen 7 years ago

I have never knit with these strips, but I don't see any reason it would not work with large sized needles