Twined Rainbow Rug

Twined rag rugs have been made for over a hundred years. They were originally made from leftover fabrics that could not be used for anything else. Old clothing that was worn out. They were always colorful. This is an old art form that is making a comeback and if I can get just a couple of people interested in it...I did my job. Hope you enjoy my tutorial. If you make a rug...please share it. I would love to see it!!

Supplies

You will need sheets in colors of your liking cut into 2 inch strips, some fabric cut into 1 inch strips for the warp, scissors, hemostats or crochet hook.

Step 1: Supplies Needed

You will need sheets in colors of your liking cut into 2 inch strips, some fabric cut into 1 inch strips for the warp, scissors, hemostats or crochet hook.

Step 2: Warping Your Loom.

You will start with a slip knot. Do not tighten the slip knot against the peg. Leave a couple of inches for it to be worked. It will make sense in the next step. When you warp your loom you want to make sure that you come back and snug up your warps. You don’t want them super tight but you do want a nice tension on them. It will keep your rug nice and flat when you take it off the loom.

Step 3: Start Working Your Weft

After you have your loom warped you are going to start twinging it with your weft strand. Make sure that the two strips that you use to start with are different lengths. You do not want your knots where you add new strands to be in the same place. It is bulky under the feet if they are. When you weave you use one strand and go over and under the warp strands. When you twine, you go over and under with two stands. You will be twisting these strands as you do this to give it a cool braided look. The video shows how to do this. Don’t forget that one both sides, you are going to work the fort and last warp strand with the steel pole that is there. This will keep the rug from getting tight in the middle and looking more like and hour glass than a nice rectangular rug.

Step 4: Adding New Strands As You Go

You will be adding new strands as you go. In the video I show the slit and slip method. Some people just knot them. I think it is too bulky and doesn’t look quite as nice. You will cut a slit about half and inch from the end of the old and new strand and put one end through the other and then loop an end through that, pull it tight and you have added a new strand.

Step 5: Working From Both Ends

You want to work your rug from both ends. This will keep the tension hood though the rug and allow you too make a great repeated pattern. Here in these pictures you can see that I worked a color rotation then flipped my loom over and worked a couple of color rotations on the other end. Then flipped again. You continue to do this to the middle. Where you will end off in the next step.

Step 6: Ending in the Middle

As I said before you will work from both ends and end in the middle. In this video you will see how that is done. Once you meet in the middle you will take all four strands to the back of your work and tie them off. You would think that it would make a big lump in the rug, but is doesn’t. These rugs are amazingly fluffy and soft to stand on.

Step 7: Removing Your Rug From the Loom

Now that you have twined your rug to the middle and tied it off on the back it is time to remove it from the loom. First thing is to remove the bars on both sides. The first one is pretty hard to get out. Once it is out the other one slides out much easier. After the bars are out, start popping the loops off the pegs. The loops left by the pegs will suck back into the rug in just a day or two. These are are nice to stand on. You have now finished your first rug. Time to prep more fabric to make your next rug. Thank you for reading my tutorial. If you make a rug, please share a picture. I would love to see it.