FREE: Upcycled Crocheted Rag Rug

It was crocheted, so nothing to hide really. I only use upcycled cloth because cutting up new cloth is pointless and enables clothing manufacturing to continue to pollute the earth.

That's just common sense. Lol. But yes, it will be washed before being shipped.

So this is a crocheted rag rug. If you want to use upcycled materials, I'd suggest t-shirt type material and bed sheet type material. The stretchier it is the better. I don't personally like denim but I've seen it used before for beautiful results. I use one crochet stitch for all of it. A single chain stitch with a 10 gage hook. You could go smaller but the bigger is better in crocheting with upcycled material.

For the rugs You just do a single chain stitch for a number of loops before turning it on itself. For the squared corner, add an extra loop before reaching around to continue the chain around the other side. As you see I don't get perfectly squared results but its a recognizable shape. For rounder rugs to not bowl up you do need to do the extra loop but you won't be cornering anything because with an circular rug you're turning the loops on themselves almost immediately at the start of the project. As for the baskets, I prefer to start from the top instead of bottom and when you do get to the botttom to create it compensate by adding more rows because it will round up regardless your efforts to create a flat bottom. So do a really long single chain stitch chain of loops. If you want a specific diameter use the calculation for determining a specific diameter to find out how long you need to make the original chaining layer. Obviously I'm not using crocheting terms but I think you'll get the gist of it if you youtube or pinterest rag rugs.

Another pointer for making baskets. Once you got the walls created height is really easy to control. The thinner the material the more compact it will be. The fluffier the material the more square footage you get out of it. With this item since it is crocheted its double the thickness and maintains the same mass as it did before. Bigger = heavier. Smaller = lighter. There are ways to cut upcycled cloth into continuous strips, and you can easily youtube this too. There are also multiple ways to join them. I do not suggest knotting it but joining it either by slitting or stitching. You'll still have lumps but they won't be as noticeable or painful. You also want to use like material with like material for maximal appearance and fit. Personally though, once you get a feel for the craft it'll come to you easier and easier with each piece. There is a way to keep even rows by counting loops too but I haven't learned this practice yet.

Yes.

I made it from forgotten clothing so...yes and no. It's been sitting on my floor since I made it.

It does seem odd that no one else has put this kind of, for lack of better word, product on Listia before. But I am just happy to share my gift with the world and to give new life to forgotten and discarded cloth. Truth be told, I think it honors my great grandmother most. She grew up in a time when this wasn't just a hobby but a way that your clothes were made. It was almost a requirement to know it.