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How To Make A Unique Rag Rug The Easy Way

Inside: A simple tutorial on how to make a rag rug from upcycled clothing fabric scraps.

He blames it on a scented candle gone wrong, but I have suspicions! There is an unsightly burn on the carpet in my son’s room. What I needed to do, was to make a rag rug, to not only hide the mark but to break up the sea of grey on the floor in his bedroom.

I developed a simple way of making a rag rug by wrapping and weaving fabric yarn around some old rope. And I upcycled his old jeans to make this lovely denim rag rug.

The rag rug looks great on the floor in his bedroom. And you’d never know there is a burn underneath it. He loves the unique indigo colour of the denim too.

Why Make A Rag Rug

There are many reasons why I decided to make this upcycled rag rug

  • It’s very affordable
  • It is eco-friendly as upcycling fabric
  • It’s an easy and enjoyable craft
  • No fancy tools need
  • No need to use the sewing machine
  • No need to use any glue
  • No crocheting or knitting needed

What Fabric Can You Use

You can create a rag rug with any fabric you can make into yarn. These include upcycled clothes such as t-shirts, denim and sweaters.

I used old jeans and kept all my family’s old denim to upcycle and repurpose. I make tons of things for the home out of them.

I’ve made jeans rugs before, one was a no-sew denim waistband rug, but that used a lot of glue. The other was a chevron rug, but that involved a lot of sewing.

The best thing about using denim is its plentiful, hardwearing and the colour.

Making yarn from old clothes you can’t donate is sustainable and eco-friendly.

How To Make A Rag Rug

There is a printable craft card for this tutorial with a video at the end.

What you need

  • Approx eight legs (4 pairs of jeans) – This may vary depending on the style and size of the jeans you use. This estimate is based on four pairs of straight-legged adult jeans of average size.
  • Twenty meters of rope 14mm thick – You can use slightly thinner rope, but you will need more to make a rug the same size.
  • Scissors, ruler and pen
  • A Crochet hook or something similar is not for crocheting but just a tool to help hook the fabric through a loop.
what you need to make a denim rag rug

How To Make Denim Yarn

Denim fabric yarn is made like this t-shirt yarn (check out the infographic). That makes diagonal cuts across the tubed fabric to make one long strip of continuous fabric. (I made recycled sweater yarn this way for Valentine’s heart wreath.)

Step 1: Cut the legs off the denim jeans from the top of the thigh, just below the pockets. Also, cut away the bottom hem of the jeans. (Keep them to one side for other denim seams/hem upcycles).

cutting the leg off a pair of jeans
Cutting the hem off the base of a jeans leg

Step 2: Next, turn the jeans leg inside out and lay it flat on a table. Then with a pen, mark lines across the length of the leg. The lines should be the width of a ruler (approx 3cm) and finish about 3cm from the top.

Marking the cut lines on a leg of jeans with pen and ruler

Step 3: Next, cut along the lines with scissors. Make sure you stop before getting to the top of the jeans leg. You’re basically fringing the leg.

Fringing the leg of a pair of jeans with scissors

Step 4: Next, this is where the magic happens. Lay the fringed denim leg out and cut the first strip to the edge at the top.

Begin the next cut with the next strip, working diagonally across the top of the fabric to the start of the next strip.

Continue cutting diagonally from the end of one strip to the start of the next one until you’ve cut all the strips apart.

Cutting the yarn from jeans legs

Step 5: You will have one long strip of denim yarn. Wrap it into a ball. You will need to make at least eight balls of denim yarn.

Upcycled denim yarn balls

How To Wrap and Weave The Yarn Into A Rag Rug

Step 1: Firstly, cut a strip of denim yarn into about 2 meters in length. Then tightly wrap it around the end of the rope overlapping. You might find it easier to secure the end temporarily with a pin.

Wrapping denim fabric around rope to make a rag rug

Step 2: Coil over 15-20 cm of the rope tightly after wrapping it. You might want to secure it in place with a pin. Take the end of the denim yarn and thread it through the centre of the coil. Use the crochet hook to help hook it through the middle of the hole.

Pull the yarn from the back between the top ropes all the way through. Then wrap it around the first two rows and repeat. It holds the rug together. Watch this video of the process here.

It is the trickiest bit of making the rag rug, but once you get started, it gets easier.

Coiling the rope and fabric
Making a denim rag rug by wrapping and weaving

Step 3: Next, wrap the denim yarn around the single strand of rope three times. Then, pass it through the strand of rope below, wrap it around two strands and repeat.

making a rag rug by coiling and wrapping fabric yarn.

Step 4: Carry on wrapping the denim around the rope 3-4 times before pulling the fabric through and threading around two thicknesses of rope.

When the fabric has run out, start another length of yarn. Wrap this over the end of the last yarn strip to hold it in place.

pulling the denim yarn through

Step 5: If you run out of rope, join a new coil using duct tape. When wrapped in denim, you won’t see the join.

Joining another length of rope

Step 6: When the rope runs out or the rag rug has reached the size you want it to be, finish off the rug by weaving the end of the fabric yarn into it.

Weaving in the end of the rope for the rug
diy denim rag rug

If you want to make the rug larger, add another coil of rope. Use a strip of denim yarn to weave the end into the rug. Then carry on weaving and wrapping the rope around the edge of the rug until you get the size you want.

DIY denim rag rug

The new denim rug looks great in my son’s room and does the job of hiding that burn mark and breaking up the grey carpet.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Type of Denim To Use To Make A Rag Rug

You can easily make a lot of fabric yarn from the legs of old jeans. One leg will create a large ball of yarn.

Use any style of jeans, but flared and boot-cut jeans produce more yarn than skinny jeans.

Softer-worn denim will be easier to weave and wrap than thick stiff denim. Use stretched and non-stretched denim. Both types will fray, but I’ve found that stretch denim frays less than non-stretched.

2. Why Cut the Yarn into 2-meter Strips?

It is much easier to manage the weaving with shorter strips of yarn around the rope. As it’s pulled through a small hole, it would take a long time with a whole ball of yarn.

You are more likely to get tied up in knots with longer strips of yarn!

3. Can I Use Other Fabrics?

Yes, t-shirts work well. They won’t fray and give a smoother finish. Other fabrics to try are old bed sheets and sweaters.

Just ensure the fabrics aren’t too heavy and stiff, as they can be challenging to weave around the rope.

4. Can I use Any Rope?

You can use nylon or natural rope. The rug works best with one that is between 8mm-14mm thick. Just remember that if you use 8mm thick rope, you will need more to make a rug the same size as that made with 14mm rope.

5. What Can I Make From The Rest Of The Jeans?

There are many amazing things to make from scraps of denim, such as denim roses, pom-pom flowers and bow ties. Find ideas of what you can make from one pair of jeans here.

You will have eight back pockets left over if you use four pairs of jeans. There are several craft ideas for denim pockets here, from wall organisers to sunglasses cases.

Use the jeans waistbands, hems and seams to make key-fobs, denim bracelets and even denim Christmas decorations.

Another excellent upcycled rug to make from old clothes is this sweater felt rug.

Yield: A round upcycled denim rag rug - no sew

How To Make A Rag Rug

Making a rag rug

Upcycle your old clothes such as jeans or t-shirts into fabric yarn. Then use this yarn to make an easy and eco-friendly rag rug with no sewing or glue. No complicated crochet stitches either, just simple wrapping and weaving of rope to make a unique handy rug.

Prep Time 1 hour
Active Time 3 hours
Total Time 4 hours
Difficulty Easy

Materials

  • 8 legs from four pairs of adult jeans
  • 20 meters of rope 12- 14 mm thick

Tools

  • Crochet hook or something similar for hooking fabric through a hole when weaving
  • Scissors, 30cm ruler and pen

Instructions

  1. Start by making the fabric yarn. Cut the leg off a pair of jeans. Cut the hem off the end of the jeans and turn it inside out.
  2. Next, lay the leg flat and mark lines with a pen from the base to 3cm from the top all the way along. Place the lines one ruler width apart.
  3. Next, use the pen marks as a guide to cut and fringe the jeans leg.cutting denim leg into strips .
  4. Then open up the jeans and cut the first strip to the edge. Then cut diagonally from one strip across to the next to make one long strip of denim yarn. T-shirt yarn is made the same way.
  5. Do this with all eight legs of jeans until you have eight balls of denim yarn.
  6. Next, cut a 2-meter strip of yarn. Then, start making the rag rug by wrapping the yarn around the end of the rope. After about 10cm is covered, coil it.
  7. Next, using the crochet hook, poke the yarn through the centre of the coil and wrap it around the next circle of rope. So that the two pieces of rope, are held together.
  8. Then, wrap the denim yarn three to four times around the rope. Again poke the yarn through the lower rope and wrap it around the two pieces of rope to hold the circle shape of the rug. coiling the yarn rope rug
  9. Repeat wrapping and weaving the yarn around the rope as you coil it. When you run out of denim yarn, wrap a new strip over the old one and continue.
  10. If you run out of rope, use masking tape to join another coil.

C

Saturday 2nd of December 2023

You have a typo above the instruction card.

Claire Armstrong

Saturday 2nd of December 2023

Thank you.

Kayla

Sunday 12th of February 2023

I can’t for the life of me figure out what you mean by “cut diagonal to make a continuous strip”? Can you post a short video or something? Thanks

Claire Armstrong

Monday 13th of February 2023

Hi Kayla, if you watch the first video on the post, you can see the cut then.

Michelle

Monday 1st of August 2022

I shared the tutorial with my daughter and she loves it. I think the thrift stores in our neck of the woods are going to run out of old denim soon ;-)

Claire Armstrong

Wednesday 3rd of August 2022

Thank you, I hope she had fun making it 😊

Home Matters Linky Party #390 - Modern on Monticello

Friday 29th of July 2022

[…] How To Make A Rag Rug by Claire @ Pillar Box Blue […]

Donna @ Modern on Monticello

Wednesday 27th of July 2022

I would have never thought to cut up jeans this way to make a continuous thread. Thanks for sharing that tip. This post will be a feature this week. #HomeMattersParty

Claire Armstrong

Wednesday 27th of July 2022

Thank you, that's awesome and I look forward to seeing it. Yes you can get a long continuous length of denim yarn using that method.

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