MAKE IT: rainbow rag rug

At a loss for what to do with all the unloved clothing and textiles cluttering up your closet? Have we got a (literally) bright idea! Track down your old sheets, t-shirts and tea towels in all the colours of the rainbow and transform them into a rag rug to brighten up your floorboards – your toes will thank you for it!

You’ll need

Fabric strips, rope, rattan or your preferred material (for a small rug, you’ll need approximately 40m)

A jumbo crochet hook (at least 19mm, depending on the weight of your fabric)

Scissors

Instructions

1. If you’re using old sheets or recycled material, start by cutting your fabric into strips about 5cm wide. You can tie all the ends together now to make one giant strip, or just tie the strips together with small knots as you go.

2. This rug is based on a giant spiral design. Start by making the centre of the spiral using a simple chain stitch with your crochet hook. To do this, select your first strip of fabric and tie a knot in one end. Thread the crochet hook through the loop you have just created, with the hook facing up. Take the loose end of the fabric strip and bring it over the hook, then pull it gently through the loop. Always keep some slack on the loop and never pull it too tight. You will notice that the original loop has moved off the hook and has been replaced with a new loop. Remember that you should always have at least one loop on your hook at all times.

3. Once you’ve made a straight length of about six loops, it’s time to turn the chain into a circle. Hold the two ends of the chain together so that they make a small, tight circle. Starting with one loop on the hook, find an opening in the opposite end of the chain and poke your hook through the hole. Now you have two loops on the hook. As before, hook the loose end of fabric and pull it through both loops. Now the two ends of your chain will be joined. Continue by poking the hook through the next opening in the chain (moving in an anti-clockwise direction), then pulling the fabric through both loops. Once you have gone around the centre a few times, press it flat and make sure it’s a circular shape.

4. Now you can continue winding the chain around on itself to increase the size of your rug. With one loop on the hook, poke it through an obvious opening in the previous chain. Hook the loose fabric end and pull it through. As you bring the hook to the front, it should now have two loops on it. Hook the loose fabric end again and pull it through the two loops. The two loops will move off the hook, replaced by one new loop. Repeat this process, moving anti-clockwise around the circle. As you go, the rows will become more defined and it will become easier to see which holes to poke the hook through.

5. Eventually, as your rug gets bigger, you will need to make each spiral a little bit longer so that the rug doesn’t start folding in on itself. Do this by adding an extra single loop to every few double loops.

6. Continue hooking and looping the chain until you’re happy with the size of your rug. Finish by tucking the final loose end of the fabric back into the rug a few times and pressing any knots down flat.

Et voila! You’ve lightened the load of your wardrobe and got a pretty lil rainbow floor to boot – you crafty thing you!

Project: Emily Lush