DIY Fabric Wrapped Cord Rug from Scrap Fabric

How to make a rug using scrap fabric

This is a very simple way to use up scrap fabric.  Cut some strips of fabric, wrap some cord, set your sewing machine on zigzag, and away you go! 


In the spirit of my new link exchange, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday I've been trying to use up some of my numerous cupboards worth of scrap fabric.

Last week I posted a tutorial for making coasters using scrap fabric.  Following that same idea, I just expanded it to make a little rug for our front doorway. 


For detailed instructions head on over the DIY Coasters from Scrap Fabric tutorial.  Essentially, all I did was to make the centre less of a circle and more of a rectangle, so that the rug shape ended up more of an oval than a circle.  In the future if I do this again, I would probably make it even more of a rectangle, as in the end this still ended up a bit more circle than oval! 

Rectangle in the centre of the rug

Part way through I switched from using the gold cord shown in my coaster tutorial, to some thicker clothesline cord.  FYI - this whole process goes much faster when the cord is larger!

The best way to add more cord if you need to is to hand sew the two ends together (the end of the cord that's been wrapped in fabric, and the end of the new cord).  This will create a little bump in the rug, but it will balance itself out as you continue sewing.  

The most time consuming part of this is wrapping the cord.  So during the course of an evening spent watching movies with hubby, I wrapped fabric.  And wrapped.  And wrapped some more.  

Then the next day I sewed a bit.  Then wrapped.  And wrapped.  And wrapped some more. 

Keep wrapping and sewing until the rug is the size you want.

Oh and also, make sure as you're sewing that the rug is fairly level.  If it is bent or hanging off the side of the machine it might start to alter the shape of the rug so that it doesn't lie flat on the ground.  It may become more like a bowl.

My suggestion, prop the growing rug up on a book as you sew.  I happened to use my laptop so I could watch tv while I was sewing! 

One more thing:  make sure you have enough thread!  This does use a fair amount of thread.  I switched thread occasionally to match the fabric, but you may like the more rustic look of contrasting thread. 

Do you make your own scrap fabric rugs?  What method do you use?

This post was shared on the following great linky parties: Monday Mania, Make Your Own Monday, Natural Living Mamma, Tasteful Tuesdays, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Inspire Me Wednesdays, We Did It! Wednesdays, Farm Girl Blog Fest, One Creative Weekend,