Sew - a needle pulling thread,
La - note to follow so and
Tea - I drink with jam and bread...why this song? well to make a braided fabric rug you will need to do all the above three things...sewing, listening to music or singing, and lots of tea to keep your patience...atleast I needed them all...
Often, we do not want to throw away old clothes or fabrics that have some emotional strings attached for they may have been gifted by our dear ones or they are too expensive to throw away, but you don't know what to do with it since they are of no use now, or maybe they have worn off only from certain areas and look like new mostly...What to do with such clothes? They are in not so good condition and still you don't want to throw them, and they occupy that little space in your closet too. I was in a similar dilemma months ago; Left with a cotton bed sheet that was too precious to be thrown away despite being worn off completely!
It could have been used as a napkin or maybe for dusting purpose. A single bed sheet - what could it be used for - I wondered. Finally I decided to make a rug out of it. I cut the fabric into long strips and then made braids from it. After making the braids, the braids were just lying off in some closet and I got busy with other things in life. Just a couple of days back, as I got to cleaning the closet I found the braids tucked away in a corner - Oh...and I was feeling too lazy to start...I took the braids out out and kept them on the table where I could see them daily, as a reminder to make the rug soon. But I didn't have the time...finally I brushed aside my laziness, admonished myself that I had to do it now 'kal kare so aaj kar' and I sat down with it all - the braids, needle & thread, and there it was...after hours of laborious stitching, a beautiful small rug. It was beautiful since it was handmade and I had invested a good amount of my time into it. I also ended in making a small container using the same braids to hold some junk jewelry.
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| A braided rug and a container to hold junk jewelry |
This tutorial presents how to make the braids from fabric strips and then how to stitch it as you keep coiling the braids around. It shows how to make a rug as well as the container to hold junk jewelry. Mind you, it requires a lot of patience to make the entire stuff so be prepared to have a lot of time in hand. Since, I had made the braids in advance, it didn't take time to make the rug - only some couple of hours. It could have been much quicker if I had used some fabric glue instead of stitching it and would look neater too. Since, I had no fabric glue with me, I went ahead with sewing it by hand. The end of the tutorial includes tips and suggestions for alternate use of the braided fabric rug and the braided fabric container. So please go through the entire tutorial.
Here's presenting the tutorial to make a braided fabric rug from an old bed sheet.
Materials required:
Long strips of fabric (preferably from bedsheets or curtain),
A pair of Scissors,
Sewing Needle,
Thread either to match the fabric or of a neutral color
Step1:
Firstly, cut the sheet into long strips, preferably of similar width, using a pair of scissors. I had cut the sheet into @2" wide strips. If they are not of equal strips do not fret, but try to maintain the width as far as possible, for it will make the braids look neater. Thereafter, take 3 strips at a time and sew the top edges as shown in the picture below. This will help you to hold the strips at the top in place as you start with the braiding process next.
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| Step 1: Sewing the edges together |
Start making the braids neatly. Once you are done with the 3 strips, add other 3 more strips to it. I kept on sewing one strip to the another and continued braiding them. The resulting product will be a long braid that will cover your entire room and more...
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| Step 2: Making the Braid |
A suggestion while you make the braid; keep some music handy to keep you engrossed with the braiding activity or do it while you watch your favorite television show, for after a while, you may start losing all the patience.
Step 3:
Now that you have the long braid ready, start sewing. Sew... a needle pulling thread.
Start by coiling around the centre.
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| Step 3: Start making a coil and sewing them as you keep coiling |
Keep sewing the braids as you keep coiling around the centre. If you need to take a break in between, keep your needle tucked into the coil as shown in the picture below to avoid the coil opening up.
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| Step 4: Keep sewing as you coil the braid around the centre |
So here we are...after hours of laborious work, we are done with the sewing work. Just make sure to stitch the edges of the braid at the ends carefully, so that they are not hanging loose and are neatly sewed to make it look complete.
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| Step 5: Sew the edges at the end carefully |
Done:
We are finally done with the braided fabric rug. You can use a thread to match with the fabric or preferably use a neutral color so that the stitches are not visible, unless of course you want to show the stitches, then you can use some contrasting color.
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| Done: A circular braided fabric rug |
Finally, turn it over if you don't want the stitches to be seen. You could also paint it with fabric colors to upscale it or leave it just with the natural look.
The circular braided rug as you see in the picture below is around 11" in diameter. It can be used as a mini floor rug or as a centre piece under flower vases.
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| Turn it over and you have the final rug ready for use |
I also made a jewelry container from the braids. The procedure is the same as above up to a certain point. Keep coiling around the centre to make a round base, thereafter you have to change the direction of the braid. Actually it was a mistake I made as I started coiling. The direction of the braid changed and it was too much of hard work already and I didn't want to redo the entire sewing again so I continued as it is. As I kept sewing, following the direction of the braid, it shaped into a small container that I could use for storing things.
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| Coiling the container |
The handmade fabric braided container that you see in the picture below is around 5" in diameter - an ideal size to just hold anything!
Suggestion or Tips for use:
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| A braided fabric container ready for use |
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| The circular rug and container to hold junk jewelry |
Suggestion or Tips for use:
Other than using the circular rug as a centre piece under a vase or under a flower pot, the size of the same (@11inches in size) is ideal to be used as a pot holder in the kitchen or it could also be used as a coaster. Similarly, the fabric container (@5 inches in size) can be used in the kitchen to store vegetables or fruits.
Finally, this is where both the products ended up being used in my house, adding a warm personal touch to my home interiors.
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| Circular rug under a flower pot |
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| Container to hold vegetables in the kitchen |
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