Clever Carpet Weaving - A guest post by David Karalis

Clever Carpet Weaving - A guest post by David Karalis

David Karalis is the creative genius behind this cozy craft - he's a freelance writer for Blooms Today, an online florist operating for nearly ten years. When he's not weaving clever carpets for pets (and people!), you can find him writing about food, video games, and technology .

Remember all of those times you decided to clean out your wardrobe and thought that maybe you’d wear that shirt one more time? If it’s in your drawer for longer than a year without being worn, chances are it won’t be worn again. Luckily, there are some nifty repurposed crafts out there that only require your upcycled shirts and a little creativity.

This article will be focusing on a lovely shag rug. Let’s start with what you need:

· T-shirts – Somewhere between 5 and 10 is a safe number. Choose complementary or matching colors.

· 2 XL T-shirts

· Cloth Scissors

· Needle and Thread

· Colored Pencil – The color should stand out from the color of the XL t-shirts.

Start with making the base. To make a sturdier base, I used 2 XL t-shirts so it was 4 layers of cloth. Align the 2 shirts and draw the preferred size and shape of your shag rug.

   

Cut out the base from the traced shape while keeping the 2 shirts aligned, creating 4 pieces of the same sized cloth. While keeping the 4 pieces of cloth aligned, sew around the perimeter. This will create a multi-layered, sturdy base for your rug.

The next step will vary depending on the shape of your base; my instructions will be for a circular shaped base.

About an inch from the edge, use your colored pencil to mark a dot. Continue making these dots about a half inch apart from another around the perimeter of the base until you get all the way around. I went around the perimeter twice and then drew the remaining marks in vertical lines to fill the rest of the base, but you can continue going around the perimeter until you hit the middle. After the base is covered with marks, cut small holes in each mark.

Begin cutting strips out of your heap of upcycled t-shirts. The strips should be around 5-6 inches long by roughly 1 inch wide. You can also use other cloth you have laying around. I used some scraps of old jeans for my rug.

Once you have your strips, put the end of one through one of the holes you created. Put the other end of the strip through an adjacent hole. Take another strip and put one end through the hole where the 2^nd end of the 1^st strip is through. Next, put the 2^nd end of the 2^nd strip through the next adjacent hole. Continue doing this, following the pattern in which you created your lines. 

 

It took me over an hour to “thread” the strips of fabric through the rug base. Again, this will vary on the size of the rug. Once finished, you will have a vibrant and unique shag rug! What you do with it is your choice. Before I could decide, my dog decided that she wanted it because it most likely reminded her of sleeping in my laundry.

How will you use your shag rug?