Rug Project

A love of rugs and a teeny, tiny budget are a fairly incompatible pair.  Usually they don't get along too well, as in... lots of arguments, name calling that quickly fades into the silent treatment, and (gasp!) occasional infidelity.  But never fear, things are on the mend.  They were able to find common ground at Big Lots a couple weeks ago and recently underwent an intense therapy session in my little sewing room.  Now they are living happily ever after in our guest room.

Ok, so maybe "ever after" is a stretch but...



Materials:
Rugs (any size throw rugs, runners, etc/ mine were $9 a piece from Big Lots)
Sewing Machine
Heavy Duty Needles
Invisible Thread
Straight Pins with colored heads

1.  Lay the rugs out on a large open floor to determine how they should be sewn together.  It's like a puzzle.  Several of mine didn't have straight edges or differed an inch or two in length or width.  Play around with the arrangement until you have it as perfect as possible.



2.  Use straight pens with colored heads to color code how the rugs will be sewn together.  Or come up with a better easier plan to mark them.  You could draw a numbered diagram and then pin little pieces of paper to each one according to the diagram.  You get the point.

3.  Change out the needle on your machine to a heavy duty one.  And get it all threaded up with the invisible thread.  I found invisible thread to be a bear to work with.  It took more than a couple tries to get it going on my bobbin threader.  Once I started sewing, I noticed that it would occasionally get caught around the spool holder, pull very tight and then snap.  So I just had to watch it and fix it the whole time.  Not too much fun, but could be worse.  I would also suggest letting up the pressure of the presser foot a little.

4.  Check the lengths of the two rugs you are sewing together.  If the lengths are a little off, simply ease in the fullness as you sew.  This obviously only works if the difference is minimal.

5. Sew using the zig zag or flatlock stitch, adjusting your sewing machine to the widest possible stitch.

 

6.  Don't worry about perfection.  As the Nester would say "IDHTBPTBB".  Translation... it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!  Plus no one in their right mind is going to get on their knees and inspect your rug.  And you're using invisible thread.  Is that enough to convince all you type A's out there? 

Here's another shot of the final project.  There are several more things I want to do in here, but it's coming along.