Summer of Weaving

This has been a summer of  weaving for me.  It all started  with a day on Pinterest looking for ideas on weaving an old fashioned rag rug.  The crochet rag rugs are absolutely beautiful but I found that crocheting with fabric strips is hard on the hands...at least for me!  So I began looking at other options.

One of the great things about having been in the military is that you have friends living all over!  On a recent trip to visit family in Florida, I stopped in for some time with a close friend in Tennessee.  I had mentioned the weaving interest to her and by the time I got there she had tracked down some looms for me.  Turns out the very loom I had been looking at was made by a gentleman in Dell, Ar which was close by!  Take a look at their website...I have enjoyed reading through all of it!  http://ouroldcountrystore.blogspot.com/p/rag-rug-looms.html

I came home with a set of 3 looms that you can actually combine and get 2 more sizes.  One of them is a mug mat size which is a great one to start with!  Friends and family would tell you I am very crafty and  while I do love to make things...learning a new skill takes time.

I found a few videos where people were whipping right thru their weaving.  That is great but I think it is easy to forget what it is like to be new.  I finally found very helpful tips and video here: http://simplyresourceful.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-make-rag-rug.html

 

With much help from my corgi Poppy, I managed to get my rags ready.  I tried both 2 and 3 inch strips and both worked great.  I found that I prefer using a rotary cutter rather than just ripping...fewer strings and just looked neater over all.

Really enjoying making these rugs and will be posting pictures of several I have worked on the last few months.  They are time consuming and I like to have more than one going at a time.

I have been frequenting charity shops and yard sales to pick up sheets in a bunch of colors.  Cleaned out my own closet and all old sets of sheets went in a basket to be cut into strips.  It doesnt matter if they have a stain...all can be used for rugs.  Put the word out to friends to save old sheets for you too!

More weaving to come!!