Rags to Riches....... completed!

My rug is finished, and I'm so happy with it. Here it is placed in front of the living room fireplace, ( just so I could get a decent picture) the light was quite dull.

..the finished size is approximately 27" x 22", that's plenty big enough to fit into my little room. Here's how I finished it off. First of all I decided (whilst I was still making the rug) to keep back half of the white and black fabric, as I'd had an idea for another project. So in the end I used all the striped tee shirting in its place. Once it was all finished I checked both sides to see if it was straight. I did this whilst it was still on the frame...

...better to check it now, before I released it.....

...as you can see, I didn't work in straight lines.it doesn't matter in the slightest. It was okay from the front too....

...there were just one or two pieces which I had to trim to size. The next thing was to release it from it's frame. I used one of these...

....mine came with the stapler. It wasn't an expensive one, I bought it from Aldi early last year, a great buy at a great price. Once released from the frame I trimmed all around the rug leaving about three inches to turn and stitch.

...as you can see from the picture above, there would have been far too much hessian to fold if I'd left it. Once trimmed I then folded over about half an inch and then folded over again, making sure that my fold was close to the rug edge, (I didn't want any hessian showing from the front) then pinned into place.

Now to stitch into place and to do this I used 4 ply cotton. I do have some fine string ( 4 ply thickness) which was my mums. It was once a huge cone, and she and my dad used it for everything. Mum gave it to me when she no longer used it and there was about half a cone left. I can't find where I've put it, (I've been sorting out I can't find anything) so this was at hand....

...I used it double thickness, and this helps keep the fold into place.

...I laid it flat on my desk to sew, which works better for me as I have arthritis in my fingers and sometimes gripping can be awkward....

....

....I'd got about 8" along when I decided to change my needle. I have a tin with specialist needles in, and I have one of these, I know it as a packing needle...

... it's curved with a flat section and it made it so much easier. I know I could have used latex glue, many people do. But this is the way I was taught to do it, and I'm happy doing it this way. Once all the edges were sewn down I gave it another check.....

...yes, I was very happy with it. Now, if I was going to use it over a fitted carpet I wouldn't use non slip backing, but as it's going to be laid on vinyl flooring I shall.I don't fancy skating across the room! This is what I will use...

...I've actually bought this for another project, ( place mats) but theres enough on the roll for me to cut a few squares off and stitch them to the back of the rug. It's a good mesh fabric so should be easy....

....the whole roll only cost £1, a bargain. My mum used to use the used seals from Kilner jars for the backing on her rugs. She would stick them on with cow gum. ( If you're my age you will know what that is!) So that's my rug done and I'm thrilled with it. I may even make another larger one at some point, for the living room. I shall have to collect quite a few fabrics though. I think it would be nice if I used coat fabrics for that one! Now, with all the off cuts I have from all those tee shirts , two projects are lined up to use them. The first being a hot water bottle cover, and I still have all the off cuts of hessian to use up too. Speaking of hessian I thought I'd show you this, something I made in 1991....

...this is my "goody" bag, as the family affectionately call it. When we are away from home I use it to keep my craft project (I always take something away with me) my notebook, sketch book, pens, and other bits and bobs in. It is made from a piece of hessian and is covered in cross stitch. I used oddments of acrylic yarn which I had left over from making sweaters, ( and I made many in those days)...

....it's fully lined. I used a piece of curtain lining which I had left over from making a pair of curtains.....

...the strap is made from 3" wide webbing which was left over from a costume I made for a panto. It's so nice getting to the end of a project, because there's all the excitement of beginning a new one!

Artistic license... I mean I do it my way!

The rag rug for my craft room is coming along nicely. I'm not spending all my time doing it, especially whilst it's been so warm, as I do have other projects on the go too! So here's the update.....

....I'm not expecting to fill the whole frame ( I'd need a lot more tee shirts for that!) but, it will be a good size when it's finished. As you can see I work from the back. This is the way I was taught to make these peg rugs.....

...you make the hole in the hessian with your chosen rag tool, (more on that in a while) push one end of the strip into the hole, a few threads along make another hole and push the other end of the strip into that hole. Try to make the ends as level as you can. ( I know I shall have a few to trim up as they've been cut a bit too long) and this is what it looks like...

..there are no rules, move over the hessian any way you want......

....as long as you are keeping the lengths between holes as equal as you can. Now, when I was growing up, these types of rugs were called peg rugs. The reason being is that mainly this was used as the rug making tool....

...these are in fact original pegs from the 1950's. They belonged to my late mother, and I have a box full of them....

...to get back to the pegging tool, one of the "legs" was cut off the peg and the remaining leg was sharpened to a point so that it could be used to pierce the hessian. That is how I made my first pegged rug when I was about 10, and it stayed in our kitchen for about 10 years. This is the tool I use now....

..it's has a very short handle which helps as I have arthritis in my fingers. So, I'm really pleased and hope to get it finished in the next week. I decided to go with a random pattern, and patches of colour. I didn't want straight lines or a shape. That's the thing about doing it your way! I have been thinking ahead though, and have begun making these.....

....ready for you know what. I'm trying to be organised, for a change!