Cut A Rug

It’s a scientific fact (or should be, anyway) that surviving winter requires an extra dose of the warm and fuzzies. You can generate them with anything handmade, and recycling something in an unusual and useful way definitely provides your daily requirement. So cut up your old, torn, battered, stained t-shirts. We know you’ll enjoy weaving yourself a soft and sweet, warm and fuzzy rag rug. It’s a fun snowy afternoon project – deceptively easy and even a little addictive. Once you’ve made your loom, you’ll find that one rug is never enough. First, cut the body of 7 or 8 medium and large t-shirts horizontally into 3-inch wide strips. Don’t cut the side seams, as these strips are the loops you weave with. Next, stretch the t-shirt loops the long way across the frame to create the warp. Note how the stretched loops become two strings across the frame. Hook those loops on the nail posts. To create the Weft, we begin working on the shorter axis. Weave the end of a loop under one string, then over the next string, then under again all the way across the warp strings.