Rug Making Tutorial - my first vlog!

...now you'll know what I sound like :)

Last week I posted about my beginning adventures in rug making, and as promised, I have a tutorial for you today.  AND it's in the form of a vlog - can you believe it?  I seriously thought I would never do a video, but it was actually kinda fun, so if you like it I may do the occasional vlog.  Most of the things I do here are easily demonstrated by pictures, but this project really lends itself to a video.  So here we go - if you have any questions about this process, leave me a comment or email me at jessica(at)makeitlovely(dot)com.

Rug Making from Jessica Broyles on Vimeo.

So that's me. 
I wish you could leave video comments so I could hear what you have to say :)
I hope that you all have a great weekend - if you're here in the states, Happy Fourth!
xoxo
jessica

My New Obsession...

...rug making - part 1. 

I am so excited about this I feel like buying an RV and traveling the country convincing everyone to jump on the punch-needle rug-making bandwagon.
In fact...I started another blog called A Lovely Path to devote solely to rugs.

It's not going to be like this one where I post every day - I'll probably only post once a week or so but I feel so excited about this that I really want to spread the news. 

I also want to start a line of patterns (I have grand visions of appearing on Martha Stewart...;) 

Now - this is not a new craft.  In fact it is a very very old one and there are not many people still doing it.  

I'm not sure why because it's awesome!  But it needs some freshening up.  Most of the patterns are not that stylish (at least for my taste), but there is so much potential. 
So I started out making a chevron rug for my kitchen.
 
Here are the supplies I am using:

Amy Oxford's 1/4" Punch Needle

Rug making stand - kindly built by my talented husband

Monk's cloth

Wool strips - which I cut from 100% wool clothes found at thrift stores. 

 I brought the clothes home, cut the linings out and felted them myself by washing in hot water, then drying on high heat.  I then cut them into 1/4" strips using my rotary cutter.  This is a little bit of a process, but I bought an ENTIRE GROCERY CART full of wool clothes for $16.  I have a lot of wool.

Last summer when we first moved up here, we stayed with a couple from our church.  His mother is Amish and had made amazing rugs for their home - I mean they look like they're straight from Anthropologie.  I was smitten.  But he said she hand hooked them, and from what I can tell that takes a really long time....and as much as I wanted to do it, I was kind of dragging my feet.  Well, last week my mom and I were downtown and we wandered into a craft and stitch store.  We stumbled upon these punch needles and were delighted by the store-owner who gave us an impromptu lesson.  She showed me hooking and punching side by side and you COULD NOT tell the difference.  So I came home with the needle and monk's cloth and got to work. It goes so quickly and is a great thing to do while sitting around watching a movie or something. 
Here's how the front looks so far:

Stick around for a full tutorial on the process next week (and hopefully pictures of my finished rug!!)

Meanwhile, head on over to A Lovely Path to learn more about Punch-Needle Rug-Making!!

xoxo

jessica 

Charlotte and the Amazing Technicolor DreamRug

 The idea for this rug was first conceived when mom and I found a foam Floor Mat at Ross for $12.  I have been wanting to make a rug for Charlotte's room for sometime now, but making rugs is really hard - what do you use for the base?  Well, this playmat was the perfect solution.

Browsing around online I found this rug at Anthropologie:

It was the perfect inspiration!  This rug costs $198.  

The one I made cost $30.  

So when your hubby comes home and you haven't done the laundry and there's a frozen pizza in the oven...just show him the beautiful rug you made and tell him you SAVED him $168......of course that never happened here.....Anyway, this is a very simple project.  All you need to know how to do is use scissors, sew a straight line, and use a staple gun.
(these instructions are for a 4'x4' square rug, but you could buy as many of those little playmats as you like
and interlock them together to make whatever size you want.)

Here are the supplies you will need

3 yds of 72"wide felt 

(I bought mine at Joanns.  It was on sale and cost a total of $9.) 

I bought six colors, a half yard each.

Scissors
Glue Gun
Staple Gun
Sewing Machine/Thread
Yardstick
Foam interlocking Floor Mat

Optional: Some cute trim - such as ribbon or this extra-large rick-rack.

**Several of you asked where I bought that rick-rack I used on the snuggle quilt.  

I bought it at this store in TN.  I spoke with one of the owners today, 

and she said that if you would like some, just give them a call and they will ship it to you.  

It only costs about $1.10 a yard and they have EVERY color!**

Okay - back to the rug.  Once you have selected your felt colors, cut each half yard into 3 1/2" strips - using the entire width of the fabric.  If you bought half yards, you will get 5 strips of each color.

Now it is time to do the fun part!  Design your rug!
Assemble the playmat.

Lay the strips on top of each other - overlapping so that they make 2 1/2" wide strips. Play around with the order of colors.  I kept the repeat random.

When you are happy with you design, pin the strips together, making the strips 2 1/2" wide.

Isn't it pretty??!!

Carefully lift it over to your machine.  Starting at one end, topstitch the first strip to second strip.  Sew about 1/8" away from the edge of the strip on top.

Once you have sewn one, you will notice that underneath on the "wrong side" of the rug, there will be about 1/2" overlap.  Be sure you have that, because that is how you will attach it to the playmat.  Continue sewing the strips together until they are all one piece.  Enjoy this process - don't rush!  It's kind of like sewing a rainbow.

I found it helpful to use that little ruler to make sure they stayed 2 1/2" wide.  As you go, roll up the rug so it will fit under your machine.

When you are finished sewing, lay the first strip you sewed, onto the playmat -right side up.  Staple it along the top of the rug.

Flip the rug top over so that you can see the wrong side and the 1/2" overlaps.  Take the 1/2" overlap from that first strip and staple it to the mat.  Be sure to pull it taut so that you don't get any unsightly wrinkles.  

Staple every other strip.  Lay two strips down - keeping the rug "flipped" up so that you can see the overlap of the strip.  Staple gun that to the mat.  Continue stapling  until they are all secure.

I used about 8 staples per strip.
Now that the strips are all attached,

trim the rug top to exactly the same size as the mat.  Staple along the two sides and bottom edge.  You will hide these staples with the trim.  Heat up your hot glue gun.  Pin the trim to the edge of the rug.  The last step is to glue the trim around the edge.  Use lots of glue since it is a rug and will be played on.

Once the glue has dried you are ready to play!  This should brighten up any child's room or playroom.  Of course, if you used a more sophisticated color palate and trim, you could really put it in any room of your home....or in the middle of a field.  Seems practical right? 

Remember to leave a comment this week if you wish to win that Spooky wordy bunting up there!  Happy weekend!
jessica

Getting settled...

Wow- this past week has been crazy!  We are finally into our home and just got the internet hooked up like 30 minutes ago.  So -  how have you been?  

While we were searching for a home to rent we enjoyed the gracious hospitality of a couple from church.  Their home was filled with many interesting and beautiful handmade items,

made by his mother who lives in an Amish community.  

Handmade quilts, hand-hooked rugs,

(how amazing is that?!  doesn't it look so Anthro?  She would buy wool coats from thrift stores and cut them into strips.  She then hooked it through burlap.  wow.)

I am going to embark on the hand-hooked rug adventure once we are settled, and very soon I will show you have to make an ADORABLE little ottoman that they had at their home. 

( I forgot to take a pic)

So that's a small peek into what we have been up to.  I am so happy to have a home again and to be blogging again, and I can't wait to start sewing again.  Hope you have been well!

DIY Rug

When designing Charlotte's nursery, I decided her floor needed a rug. However, you know how expensive rugs can be. So I decided to fashion one myself. (I know it is hard to focus on the rug with such a gorgeous child playing on it)

I bought these four rugs (i think they are acutally bath mats) at Ikea for $4.99 each.
Then, I got out the trusty Duct tape and just taped those puppies together. Go really slowly and make sure your rugs are lining up and not overlapping.

Next, I got out my other standby...the glue gun... and hot glued the border on. I pressed under the edges so as not to have raw edges showing. The whole project cost about $18.00 and it has lasted two years. Okay, so it is not a family heirloom, but for that price, 2 years is a pretty good deal!