Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Braided Rug Tutorial: Recycling old towels





I had 3 bath towels that had stains on them, but otherwise were in really good shape so I decided to turn them into my next project.


I folded each towel in half and cut into 1.5 in strips. 



I cut up each towel.   They were all about the same size towel.



I am sure many of you are saying "where is her rotary cutter?"  I don't have one so I did this old school.



Once everything is cut I sewed 3 strips, one of each color together.



Then get those fingers warmed up because there was A LOT of braiding going on.  I folded the raw edges to the inside to minimize freying.





After you braid one set of strips you sew on another.  and another ...and another Until you have a giant long braided rope of towels.



I then twisted the center and wrapped it around as I hand stiched the rows into place.





I stiched it all together on the back with a heavy duty needle and some thread and then your are finished.


























Have a great DAY!!





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68 comments:

  1. This is the best braided rug I've seen! P.S. Check out my "thank you" at:

    http://www.diyaddict.org/2011/03/ginormous-overdue-thank-you.html

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  2. Your rug is awesome! What better fabric to use in a bathroom than terry-cloth? Perfect! A few question before I actually embark on this project: 1) Was fraying a problem? 2) Have you laundered it yet, and if so, how did it fare through the cleaning and drying process? Thanks!

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  3. Great Idea!! I love this!! I believe I'm going to have to try this!!

    Hugs ~~ Suz

    www.inspiringcreativeness.blogspot

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  4. This is awesome! I've seen all kinds of rug projects, but I dearly love this one. I'm wondering about the fraying, too ... I have several towels on their last leg, and I'd love to make something cute like this out of them.

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  5. That is awesome! Fabulous idea! Great job too! Thanks for linking it up!

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  6. That is AWESOME! love the look of the braided rug.

    Come On over and check me out!
    Cherie
    http://dragonfliezcreationz.blogspot.com

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  7. Your rug turned out so great!! Very clever.

    I shared it on my TT&J FB page :)

    xoxo
    Jen

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  8. Now that is a great recycling idea! Love it. Thanks for sharing.

    Brittany
    http://www.prettyhandygirl.com

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  9. Perfect excuse to get some new towels! This would be perfect in the bathroom I am redoing--nothing like adding another homemade element to the room.

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  10. Wonderful idea, I just bought new towels and have all the old ones trying to figure out what to do with them!

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  11. Totally awesome, saw you on TT&J, Jen always finds the coolest things.

    I have been wanting to make a tshirt rug, but this is PERFECT for the bathroom,,, like seriously awesome.

    Come say hi sometime, and link up girl, I'd love to have you!! Bella Before and After , and if you want to win an Avocado Painting, come enter myGIVEAWAY HERE, I really appreciate the support.

    Hugs,
    Bella :)

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  12. Brilliant ~ I love it! I want to make one! When you stitched it in the back, did you "hand" stitch it? Or how exactly.....I'm a beginning sewer....
    Thanks for the inspiration!!!

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  13. That is really cute. I love the idea of using old towels for a beautiful braided rug in the bathroom. Great tutorial!

    Cheers,
    Tracy http://allthumbscrafts.blogspot.com

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  14. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a fabulous idea for a rug! I love it!

    xoXOxo
    Jenn @ Peas & Crayons

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  15. Too cute! I've been looking for a good tutorial on a braided rug! Thanks for sharing!

    -Brooke @ 20SomethingDesigns.Blogspot.com
    Visting from TT&J

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  16. Wow, great idea! I saw your link at Tatertots and Jello. And I have the exact same scissors...and no rotary cutter so I feel your pain on big projects. The finished product looks great!

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  17. What a great idea! I love a good upcycled craft! I am visiting from Tatertots and Jello and I am a new follower!
    Have a great weekend!
    Michelle
    www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

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  18. Awesome idea. I was wondering though is it hard to sew them together on the back? Do you need a heavy duty thread or is regular thread good?

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  19. That is a beautiful rug! What a great idea.

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  20. Love this idea! I featured you on my blog this morning, feel free to check it out! Happy Spring!
    Jen

    http://jen-simplyliving.blogspot.com/2011/03/stuff-i-like-sunday-7-8.html

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  21. wow this is so amazingly cute! I might even BUY towels to make one! Thanks so much for linking up and sharing!

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  22. Could this be any more fantastic?! I don't think so! Great job!!!!

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  23. Emily! That is adorbs! I might have to try this one!!

    Love your guts
    mandi

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  24. Hey girls just came across your blog at Lauren's, West Revival Furniture. I love this rug tutorial! Thank you for posting! XOXO

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  25. I love this! It’s a very clever project to make.

    Dee

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  26. What a great idea! Looks good too!

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  27. This rug ROCKS!!! I love how you can choose your colors! Great Job! I'm so copying this!

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  28. Wow, what a great idea!! I was looking for two new rugs for my bathrooms now I think I will just make this!

    I was wondering about the fraying after it was washed was it a problem?

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  29. That is awesome!! Did you see my rug earlier this week from old t-shirts???? Thanks for auditioning for OMTWI!!

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  30. I wanted to let you know that I made your rug. It turned out very cute. I did a post and linked back to your tutorial. I would love for you to take a look. www.kadie-sevenalive.blogspot.com

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  31. I Just LOVE this!! Thank You
    I'm going to make one out of some old jeans I have :D
    It's also been featured as today's Green Craft on The Craft Portal~ hope you like it <3
    http://thecraftportal.com/273/green-tuesdays-braided-rug/
    Now I'm off to read more of your site!
    ~Kaz x

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  32. I may have to try this with some towels I have. What a great idea!

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  33. I NEED to do this. Please tell me how I can learn to sew. And fast! (I'm being serious, not sarcastic). Thanks for sharing :-)

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  34. I loved your wonderful idea. I have some old toils with some holes and I think that I go recicle them. It's eco friendly and beautiful

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  35. Wow that's neat - too bad I suck at sewing. In case you're interested here's a link to a site showing how to make, among other things, a bath/floor mat using old towels.

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  36. I love the braided rug! Do you think hot glue would work for binding the 3 strips together? My sewing machine doesn't work, but I really want to do this.

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  37. Beautiful rug! You inspired me to try it out... however it looks a little more like a sombrero or a bowl than a rug. I guess I was a little too enthusiastic with the hand stitching. ;D

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  38. Oh, so doing this today. You are my new best friend. What AWESOME ideas you have.

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  39. beautiful...now this I can do!

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  40. Olá!!!

    Visitei por acado seu blog e adorei, esta idéia do tapete feito com toalhas, muito boa mesmo, essa reciclagem foi muito proveitosa, parabéns!!!!


    Bjos
    casaamarelaartsbymarta.blogspot.com

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  41. Did you fold the strips in half lenthwise so that both raw edges were inside?
    aunt.nona@yahoo.com

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  42. Been wanting to start doing something crafty. Happy stay at home mom but that means no money to buy extras. Loved this braided rug. I have a bin of old towels and no rotary cutter as well :) Perfect! Got started immediately. Thanks for sharing your idea and talent.

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  43. Nice. Will make this my next weekend project!

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  44. What a great use for old towels. I always end up cutting them up for cleaning rags. This is a much better use!

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  45. What is the size of the needle to be used in the sewing machine since the cloth is very thick.

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  46. I love this idea. What a great use of toweling scraps too. Got to try this when I have time. Thanks for the ideas.

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  47. Thank you for posting this great tutorial! I have been looking for a rug to match my aqua towels with no luck at all. Now I can just make one that will match and probably be cheaper :-)

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  48. This is a great article! I found this site Braided Rugs to be good if you are looking for Braided rugs for your home!

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  50. This is the prettiest braided rug I've ever seen. I see an awful lot of dull-looking rugs, but yours has a beautiful pinwheel/sunburst effect. Now I know the secret to that effect: mix light and dark colors in the same braid. Will definitely try this myself...

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  51. Lovely! I have several towels in mind that need to sacrifice themselves to become my next rug! Great idea, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
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  56. There's a lacing technique for assembling a braided rug that's easier than stitching/sewing it. The lacing is also invisible from both sides, so the rug is reversible. I learned it from my grandmother years ago, but there are tutorials online, just look up How to Lace a Braided Rug. You can also make braided rugs in oval and rectangular shapes.

    ReplyDelete
  57. MY BRAIDED RUG CURLS AND BULKS WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

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  58. This stuff is down to earth, hats off buds out there. braided rugs

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  59. Oh thank you so much for the tutorial. This rug is so very nice! I love the colours that you chose!

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