Optional: Add decorative elements: If you want to give your shaggy rag rug an extra touch of style, you can add decorative elements along the finished edges. Consider attaching tassels, pom-poms, or braided fabric strips to create a unique and personalized look. Cutting up the cloth ready for rug making doesn”t need to be a problem, though you can make it one if you want to. There are plenty of older people who have horror stories to tell about having to cut cloth for their mothers” rug, when they were children, with only blunt scissors to cut with. One lady told me she not only had to cut out the little rectangles but also had to cut the corners off every one. Tricia from the Country Chic Cottage has used an interesting method to make her rag rug (also from old T-shirts). Her tool of choice? A hula hoop! Marker or fabric chalk: You’ll need a marker or fabric chalk to mark the fabric strips before cutting them. This will help ensure consistency in the length and width of the strips.

Incidentally, if you want longer strips to come off the cutting gauge lay a pencil along it before winding the strip of cloth around, and the cut bits will be about half an inch (12mm) longer.So don’t let the materials used in each of these examples hamper your creativity! Use what you have! Braided No SEW T-Shirt Rag Rug Photo: Meredith Amand With the proper vacuum settings in place, suction out the dust and dirt. Work in a grid, go slow, and overlap each stroke to produce the best results. If you feel as though the vacuum is pulling too hard on the shag rug's fibers, stop vacuuming.

Choose a hanging loop that complements the colours of the wreath. I’ve used plaited hessian strands, green ribbon, cut rags, bias binding and other materials, so do get inventive!

You can of course do this with a ruler and scissors, but the novelty soon wears off. The easy answer is to use a cutting gauge. This is a small length of wood with a groove along one side. The circumference of this is the same as the length of strips you need, so you just wind the long torn strip around the cutting gauge (see diagram) and cut along the groove with a knife or scissors and all the bits that drop off will be the length you need. Fire and flood don”t have to be major disasters, like the house burning down or a river taking a detour through it. Rugs are far more likely to suffer from having cinders fall on them if they”re laid in front of a fireplace, or to get partly wet from spillages and flooding washing machines in kitchens. Everyday problems like these are easy to deal with. Meredith’s no sew method above is one I wish I had come across a few years ago actually as I am currently several years into an epic rag rug project (with three years off to move house and have two babies!) that is still probably going to take me another month or two to complete! Photo: Upcycle My Stuff Rug binding tape: Another option is to use rug binding tape, which is specifically designed for finishing the edges of rugs. The tape has adhesive on one side and a fabric strip on the other. Simply fold the fabric strip over the edge of the rug and attach the tape, following the manufacturer’s instructions.