Crocheted Rag Rug Tutorial

These rag rugs are great to throw down in front of the kitchen sink, bathroom, or front door. They are washable and can be made to match your décor or the current holiday. The rug I made below is for Christmas!

Level: Beginner

For this project you'll need:

• Fabric (I used 5 yards of green and 2 yards of red- use more or less depending on the size of rug you want!)
• Scissors (to cut the strips)
• A large crochet hook (I used a size 10mm/N hook)
• A comfy place to sit and relax while you crochet

To make the fabric strips:

1. Begin by snipping the selvage (the part with the company name/fabric info and is usually white). Rip the selvages off- toss them or let your little one run away with them.
2. Square up the cut edge (not the selvage) by snipping and ripping off the extra fabric. You should have a square or rectangle shape now.
3. Snip about an inch of fabric about an inch away from the edge (you can make your fabric strips any width but mine are about an inch wide).
4. Rip the fabric down to the other edge, stopping an inch before you completely rip it off. Turn the fabric and make another snip and rip again. Continue around in a spiral, you are basically un-spiraling the fabric. If you accidentally rip the fabric off then you can reattach it with a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine or straight-stitch by hand.

5. Wind your new 'yarn' into a ball or put it in a baggie with the top tied closed and the end sticking out.

To crochet the rug:

1. This rug requires a basic knowledge of the chain, single crochet and increase stitches. This project is great for beginners to learn how to crochet as it only uses basic crochet stitches and the yarn and hook are much easier to handle because they are large and intricate details aren't needed!
2. Chain 12-20 stitches. Shorter for a smaller oval, longer for a larger oval. I used 12 for this rug.
3. Turn the corner with 2 single crochet stitches and single crochet along the chain. Turn the corner by increasing 2 stitches.
4. Continue crocheting around increasing as needed. If you increase too much your rug will become wavy. If you increase too little your rug will begin to cup.
5. Attach different colors of fabric with a zig-zag stitch or straight stitch as you run out or want to switch colors.

Enjoy!