How to Make a Rug Out of Muslin
- 1). Start cutting your scraps into 1-inch strips. Lay them on your cutting mat and use the grid lines on the mat to guide you. Square off the ends of your strips so you have perfect rectangles. When you finish cutting the scraps, move to cutting the rest of your fabric into 1-inch strips.
- 2). Select three strips of muslin that are three different lengths. Stack them on top of one another, matching the ends together on only one end. Use your needle and thread and stitch the the matched ends together. Pin the sewn end to your ironing board with your safety pin.
- 3). Hold the three strips in both of your hands -- two in your dominant hand, and one in your other hand. Twist the two in your dominant hand inwards, one over the other. Grab the new innermost strip with your non-dominant hand and turn those inward, and grab the middle strip with your dominant hand and twist them inward again. This is a simple, three-strand braid. Continue doing this until you near the end of your shortest strip.
- 4). Cut a vertical 1/2-inch slit about 1/2 inch from the end of your shortest strip in your braid. Select a new strip and make an identical slit on it. Push the slit end of your new strip through the slit on the shortest braided strip. Push the whole end of you new strip through the slitted end of your new strip and pull it taut. Continue braiding until you need to add a new strip and add a new strip in the same manner. You will need to move your safety pin closer to the part of the braid you're working on periodically. Braid until you run out of strips.
- 5). Cut the tails so they are all the same length and sew them together very close to the braid. Thread your needle with the upholstery thread.
- 6). Start with one of the ends of the braid and coil inward, making a flat circle. When the circle is about 4 inches in diameter, lay it down on a flat surface. Stitch your circle together with your needle, starting at the middle. Continue to coil the braid around the center, and stitch it together as you go. The side that is facing you as you stitch is the "bottom" of the rug. Sew the tail of the braid to the "bottom" of the rug, and your rug is finished.
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