Showing posts with label rugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rugs. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Hooked!

My first hooked rug! It was started after my visit to the beautiful Locally Made Shop in Leroy, NY a little more than a year ago. The lovely Jan introduced me to the art of rug hooking and even let me try a few loops on her rug. I was literally hooked. I returned again this year at about the same time and visited her- in the meantime I had acquired a rug hook, backing, a lot of wool and cutting tools. I was almost ready to go, I just needed a pep talk and last minute reminders. When I got back to Michigan, I found an image, started sketching, and made the rug. So here's how it went, from drawing to finished rug.
Are you sure you want to do this? 
Goat Sketch. 

First loops, it's fun!

OK, goats are cute!


I can see how this is going to be!


It's feeling ruggy!

The camel hair background was THICK!

Hooked! now...the edge...


Green wool, whip stitched. 


Must sign and date.


And the finished product:
Done!
Happy 70th Birthday, Mom!!

"SMILE"

Friday, July 29, 2011

Rag Rug


That sounds like "red-rum" but other than bloody fingers from sewing a gazillion stitches, no harm came from the making of this thrift store corduroy rug.

I love our cottage in Port Austin, MI. Love love love. Everything about it is cute, even the unfinished-ness of some of it.

Husband was having bro-friends for a long weekend so we purchased a bunk bed for one of the two diminutive bedrooms. It had mostly been used for storage: in other words it was a junk room. The transformation to usable room included some kind of floor covering. Before, it was the remnant of the bathroom carpet. After, it was a small but cushy corduroy braided rug. Hand braided, hand sewn by me. In two days.

Let me explain. Day one: cutting the rug (tee hee)


I bought these pants long ago at the Bad Axe thrift store for a song. They were plush and large. And I liked the colors. I had six pairs of corduroys- three of them were of similar rusty color, and the others were velvety contrasting colors.


Next day: I went about braiding them. Now, in hindsight, I was pretty sloppy. I've had long hair my whole life so I feel like my braiding skills are above average, but the way I cut the strips left some dangling edges and unevenness that had to all be braided in.

I figured I could fix it all when I sewed it all up.

Sewing it all up- now that was the real project.


As the sun lowered, I kept at it till my fingers were bloody. I kept pricking myself. I used fishing line and a simple if somewhat erratic stitch. I used a LOT of fishing line, and a LOT of stitches. It took all day. But what fun!
I was blocking the rug in the pre-sewing stage.



Finished product:
It's dinky! But dang- what a lot of work! It's soft and kind of matches the thrown together decor. And I'm sure the bro-friends won't have a clue, but for all you thrift-store crafty souls out there, Yay for us!