Last week I finally remembered to get more old T-shirts and so I completed my next T-shirt-yarn project: a small rug for my bathroom. I have seen this kind of braided rug in a few variations but at every tutorial the fabric was glued to cardboard and the rugs were not washable. Since I have a tomcat that prefers to show me his displeasure with the help of his body fluids (soon he is going to get a plug) „do not wash” is never an option for me! So I’ve made my own washable version of this rug.

Have fun!

Material and tools

A piece of fabric (this should be slightly larger than the rug is going to be), a measuring tape, glue, scissors and something to fixate the braid (I always use a clamp)…

… and a lot of T-shirt yarn. You can read HERE, how to cut your own t-shirt yarn. I used for my rug four T-shirts (two white, one white with blue stripes and a grey with blue stripes).

Step 1

Sooo, first you need four strands of T-Shirt yarn in your favorite colors. How long you cut the strands, depends on what length is best for you to work with.

Step 2

At the beginning you need to knot the four strands of yarn.

Step 3

When braiding, I always have to secure the yarn-braid to a solid surface, otherwise I’ll go crazy. Depending on your level of calm, you may do the same… and the braiding-fun begins! Now it’s braiding, braiding and a little more braiding. I have done my braid on two nights while watching television. Very relaxing!

Step 4

Eventually you will come to the point where you are at the end of your strands. No problem, you can extend them easily without major knots. For this, you take a pair of scissors, fold a small piece of the end of your strand and cut a tiny hole in the fabric.

You do the same with the beginning of the new strain and place the two above one another so that the holes lie over each other.

The end of the new strand now needs to be threaded and pulled through the two holes…

… until you can tighten the knot.

Ta-da!

Step 5

When I was satisfied with the length of the braid, I just tied a knot at the end.

Step 6

Now the piece of fabric comes into play. Next you must glue the braid on the fabric to fixate it before sewing. Otherwise the sewing is going to be a nightmare.

In principle you just have to glue the braid in a circle. If you want your rug to be oval, you must start like I did. If the rug should be round, you start the braid in a circle without the elongated middle.

Step 7

First I intertwined the two white T-shirts, then I changed to the white T-shirt with blue stripes and ended with the grey T-shirt with blue stripes. The different colors of my rug in my photos can be explained by the fact that I took the photos at different times in different rooms.

Step 8

Now the sewing can start. As a stitch I used the largest zig-zag stitch, I could choose – with the largest stitch length. You absolutely have to start sewing in the middle otherwise there will be bulges. Always sew in a circle and you will be finished in no time.

Finally, I once again stitched the edge of the braid to the fabric in a final round.

Step 9

And here my children you can see the reason why you should always use colorless glue! Of course, I used a bright yellow glue and can never again turn my rug (*sigh*). After sewing you have to cut off the excess fabric and you’re done.

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