A Braided Rug

 

I have been wanting to make a braided rug for over a year.  I finally did it!

 

 

 

 

My Mother in law and I made this braided rug while she visited us. 

She's a crafty lady and we just love crafting together. 

I also thought my in-laws '46 Ford pick up truck made for a great photo op!

 

Here's what we did.  Cut a bunch of fabric strips that are 2 inches wide and about 2 feet long.  Start by knotting three of them close to one end and start braiding!  Once you are near the end of the strips, add a new strip using your preferred method. I cut a slit in them and pulled the long end through the joined slits to knot them.  You could probably just tie a knot in them and snip the end!  Wrap your braids around each other and before it gets too big, start stitching the rows together.  Braid some more, stitch some more.  My MIL started this stitching on the front side and once a few rows were done, she flipped it over and did the stitching on the back side.

 

 

Just whip stitch through the two rows to hold them together!

 

 

I used heavy duty home decor fabric.  As I braided, I tried to turn the back of the fabric to the back of the braid.  The fabric was fraying a bit but I like the look of that so it didn't bother me.

 

It was that easy!  I don't know how to crochet and I attempted to do a toothbrush method with a runner and a joiner but really - - that was just too complicated for me!  This rug measures 2 feet across.  I'm thinking of doing another one and instead of braiding three of the same fabrics I'll try braiding three different colored fabrics to have a multi colored rug. 

 

 

 

 

Duke thought it was his new porch rug!

 

If you decide to make one I would love to see it!

I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

 

Kris