Tuesday, November 17, 2015

rainbow rag rug




I bought the zpagetti rug kit from Hoooked Zpagetti a few years ago. At the time all I could crochet was chain stitches as long as infinity. I watched the Crochet Rag Rug tutorial taught by Cal Patch on Creativebug for only a few minutes and had a ‘aha moment’ and the rest is crochet history!

Zpagetti t-shirt yarns are considered sustainable. They are made with off-cuts from new fashion garments sourced from European textile manufacturers. The colourful cones are perfect for upcycling in to your favourite crocheted projects.

I found the yellow and purple ribbon yarn quite thick and the pink, red, green and aqua ribbon yarn quite thin. At the start I had a lot of curling in to a bowl shape and ruffling when I tried a looser tension. Eventually I found a nice tension, although the finishing row does not sit very flat, the rug turned out great. Ravelled here. As you can see Archie is delighted and the rainbow rug gives a lovely atmosphere in his room.

I borrowed The Dressmaker book from the library to hold me over until I can see the actual movie. Yes, it's true; right now I do want to see the movie more than read the book! I mean for starters, Kate Winslet plays the main character and she is such a wonderful actress. The movie is set in dry, sparse outback Australia; there's spaghetti western music; 1950's haute coutre to squeal and dream about for weeks; and who doesn't love a good makeover for an underdog. Oh and some of the best Australian actors I've watched since childhood - Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving...

What have you been making, reading or watching crafty friends? Crochet peeps, any tips on how to finish a rag rug so it stays flat on the last row?

Joining in with all the crafty folks at Keep Calm Craft On and Yarn Along. You can too.

Update: This post was written just before the tragic Paris and Beirut attacks.  More than ever we need to stay united.

23 comments:

  1. We had a rag rug workshop at our Simple Living Toowoomba a while back and it was packed. The same last year and the year before. I don't know what it is about rag rugs but everyone seems to be fascinated by them. We actually made the toothbrush rug which is an 'old' way of making them. They end up looking pretty much the same as those that are crocheted though. We used up strips of old fabric for ours and they looked great when finished.

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    1. I want to move to Toowoomba Nanna Chel. You always have the best community workshops there. Initially I wanted to make a traditional rug with old t-shirts and sheets but I didn't have any to cut up. Ironically just as I finished the rug my hubby cleared out his wardrobe and put all his old t-shirts in the garage to use as cleaning rags.

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  2. Love your rug! What fun colors! I've been making a rag rugs from old sheets braided and sewn together. Its been fun. Have a great week!

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    1. Can't wait to see your finished rug, Jeanettebr.

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  3. Oh it's gorgeous - what fabulous colours and it looks like it has a wonderful texture for little fingers to play with!

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    1. Perfect for little fingers, Carie. Just the other day I found Archie doing exactly that and almost falling asleep. Very meditative.

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  4. What a pretty rug. Thank you for describing Zpagetti. I'm presently saving seamless t-shirts we no longer wear thinking I might try this myself one day. I made one ball of t-shirt "yarn" so I know it's a bit tedious. But I haven't given up on the idea of carrying it through to an actual project. Someday...

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    1. Zpagetti was a great way to get going on this project, Becki. In the meantime I'm slowly collecting old sheets from the op-shop to one day make a traditional rag rug, like you.

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  5. oh my gosh, I love that rug. I have always had a thing for rag rugs and dream of making one. I've never learned to crochet but do have a small bit of a braided rug going. But nothing nearly as cute as yours so I'm going to check out that zpaghetti link... Now I'm dreaming again! Darling!

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    1. I dream about making a braided rug too, Sarah. There's something dreamy about handmade rugs isn't there.

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  6. gorgeous rug and i love the bright bold colors!!!

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    1. Thank you Karen. Although I am aware not all of the rainbow colours are in there, it certainly cheery.

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  7. That is a great rug. Perfect for a child's area -- so bright and cheerful.

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    1. I do like the contrast of natural earthy things with a spot of brightness.

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  8. Nice rug - so bright and cheery! You've also reminded me that I have one started somewhere in my stash of unfinished projects…..I used old sheets for that one but have made one with old tshirts and another just using stretch fabric that I bought at op shops and cut into long strings. Depending on which way you cut the fabric i.e. across or lengthwise, you'll get the either the front or back showing as it curls up. Not a good explanation but try cutting a small length of stretch fabric both ways, give it a 'pull' and you'll see what I mean.

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  9. Clever girl. It looks great. I haven't crocheted anything in ages and I my fingers were twiddling for something the other day, a new project perhaps...perhaps.
    Kate Winslet is one of favourite of favourites. If you lived closed I'd drag you to the movies and we'd have to by pass a coffee shop and maybe a book shop on the way there.

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    1. That would be a wonderful outing! I will take you up on that one day; at least a coffee date:)

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  10. Ooooh this rug makes me smile :-) Look at your boy - Archie looks thrilled, such a sweet grin! I haven't seen The Dressmaker yet either - I'm busting to hopefully get to the cinema soon. Not sure if I'm patient enough for the DVD release. I haven't read the book but would love to hear what you think xo

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  11. What a perfect pop of colour for a kid's room! My aunt taught me to crochet a few years back and I loved having the same "a ha!" moment when I extrapolated from baby blankets to everything else. Very cool. :)

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  12. That rug is such an eyecather in the room! Lovely! What a sweet boy you have!
    I'm glad you also mention the Beiroet attacks, we may not forget that tragedies like Paris happen so often in those countries, yet it's only when it comes closer to us, we seem to be shocked more.

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  13. I love the brightness of the rug!

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  14. Love that rug - I so want to make one now! The Dressmaker is fabulous! We had an opening night event here and I got to wear my 50s dress. Great movie - Kate is amazing, but Judy Davis and Hugo Weaving are wonderful. There are certain actors/actresses that you just know that a movie will be great if they are in it. But I hope you read the book first. I really appreciated the movie more by reading the book first, as there is always more depth in the book. It was also fun to watch as the movie was filmed about an hour from here in the Grampians. When it was being filmed, there was a bit of star watch action going on - messages about 'just saw Kate in the main street!'
    Happy New Year to you all!

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