Cozy Patchwork Rug

Hallo, everybody! My name is Ella and I’m fond of sewing =)

I really love hand-crafted things; my house is full of them! There are different cozy blankets, carpets, toys, photo albums and other interior items in each corner of my home. I believe that all of them do our houses full of love, warmth and comfort.

In this class I want to show you how make very simple, but soft «countryfied» rug! You can use it in bathroom, living room, balcony, for kids, for pets, for hot tea with a book, it’s universal and very comfortable. This rug is heavy enough, so it’s also non-slip and perfect to be placed on the floor. And it’s so simple to make it!

I remember this carpets in the village house of my granny. She told me that in the war times, when their houses were very poor, they made this patchwork rug from different shreds to make their houses warmer. I usually took a carpet laid it on the porch and read a book. It was wonderful times!

So, let’s begin =)

Necessary materials

I couldn’t tell you exactly how much materials you need – it depends of size and density you want your carpet will be. You can make it big or small, fluffy or not, use different old waste t-shirts, sheets, fabrics, whatever you want! You need fabric for the base and fabric for the pieces.

For the rug like in my photo 60х60 centimeters (23х23 inches) you need:

• Fabric for the base 70x70 centimeters (27x27 inches).

I strongly recommended you use denser and not stretching fabrics for the base! It can be jeans, sacking, tight flax, an old carpet or jacket.

For the base I found in my stock an old non-stretch wool fabric. I decided that it’s perfect because it’s warm and tight enough.

I want my carpet will be fluffy. So, on my rug I have 28 rows on each 1 cm and I spent about 3 meters of fabric! I have pieces 1-1.5 cm width and 10 cm length and I applied them in three layers. If you want like my carpet, you need:

• Аbout 7-8 lanes 1-1.5 cm width and 1 meter length just for 1 row! It’s about 3 meters of fabric or 200 lines 1-meter length. I advise you not to calculate in such detailly, just find cloth with a total square of 3х1 meters.

I have 3 different colors of fabric - 1 square meter each. I advise you to use not crumbling fabrics for the pieces. It can be knitwear, wool, and others.

Also you need:

• 1 spool of sewing thread according to the tone of the basic fabric.

Necessary equipment

• 1. Household sewing machine
• 2. Needle for dense materials, size 80 (If not, use any).
• 3. Fabric scissors
• 4. Ruler in centimeters
• 5. Fabric Pencil
• 6. Sewing pins and needle

So, everything is prepared and we’re ready to get started!

First of all, cut the rectangle 70x70 centimeters (27x27 inches) from the basic cloth.

Look, you can tuck and hem the edges of the carpet, or you can do it simpler just stitch around the edges. I prefer the first variant, so I need 5 cm more for the bending of each edge. I think, this variant looks more accurate and nicer!

I mean, if you don’t want to do the bending - you can cut just 60х60 centimeters (23х23 inches).

Please notice that we need 5 cm hem allowance, and the hem will be only 3 cm wide! We need to arrange the corners so that they look beautiful even from the inside.

Look carefully on the photos of this step!

1. Put the fabric on the table front side down, bend its edges 1 cm on the back side, fix the bends with the help of the pins (if necessary, sew it by hand) and iron.
2. Next, in both directions from the corner, we measure double width of the hem (in this class, the width of the hem is 3 cm, so a distance will be 6 cm). Then, draw a line between “A” and “B” with the help of fabric pencil.
3. Fold the fabric in the corner (with the back side out), match “A” and “B”, and fix the place of the fold with the pins. Then we stitch along the line you mark before.
4. Сut off the excess fabric at the fold.
5. Turn out the corner, correct and iron.
6. Process the remaining 3 corners.
7. Stitch around the perimeter on the inside of the hem.

You should have the following result like in the last photo for this step.

You will need a patience for this step =)) We have to cut out and stitch about 600 shreds!

1. First cut out the strips 1-1,5 cm width. To cut the strips faster, fold the fabric in 4-6 layers.
2. Make the pieces from the strips 10 cm length.
3. Take 3 shreds of different colors, lay on each other and put in the upper right corner of the carpet very close to the hem. Stitch in the middle of the pieces.
4. Take the other 3 shreds, put very close to the first pieses and Stitch in the middle.
5. Sew one row.
6. For the next row place the pieces at 1cm from the first row.
7. Sew in this way row by row.

If you are not sure about marking the rows, draw the lines with the help of fabric pencil.

I recommended you start from the right or left upper corner of the base and move down, and step by step move rows to the middle. Don’t sew the pieces around the perimeter, it’s better sew row by row!

So, our cozy rug is ready! I’d like to congratulate you.

I’m sure you find the place for it quickly. You can add this composition by covers for stools using the same method.

I hope you enjoyed the class and feel proud of the beautiful creation you made!

I’d love to see photos of your carpets in the comments!

Decorate your houses, create your cozy and warm place.

Thank you!