How to make a floor rug with t-shirts

Better Homes and Gardens

It's time to empty out your closet, you're on the hunt for t-shirts way past their use-by date! Cut them into strips, then plait them together and hand stitch the lot into a coil.

Gather your supplies

Old t-shirts or t-shirt fabric, scissors or rotary cutter, ruler and cutting mat, needle, sewing thread

Here’s how

Step 1

Cut fabrics into 5cm strips, making 3 piles.

Step 2

To join strips from first pile together, cut a small hole in each strip end.

Step 3

Pull the cut end of strip A through the hole in strip B, about 5cm.

Step 4

Pull the uncut end of strip A through the cut end of strip A, pull it all the way.

Step 5

Pull the ends of strip A and strip B away from each other to complete join

Step 6

Continue joining strips and wind into a tidy ball. Repeat Steps 2–6 to make 2 more balls. These will be your starting balls. More strips can be cut and joined as your rug grows.

Step 7

Knot the ends of the 3 balls together and begin plaiting. You may choose to plait your entire rug before sewing together or plait and sew in stages as you see the colours growing in rounds.

Step 8

With needle and thread, working on what will be the wrong side, hand stitch the end of the plait into a coil. Continue stitching, catching the adjacent edges of the plaits as you work out from the centre.

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