How to Make a Cotton Daisy Shaped Rug

This project is a good way to use leftover or scrap fabric.

You can make a daisy-shaped rug out of cotton, without buying any specialized tools. The toothbrush rug -- a style of braided rug -- was born out of improvisation, using things that people had on hand. It's a simple process to make the tool and the strips, as well as the rug itself. However, if you prefer, the tool and strips of fabric can be purchased online or from craft retailers.

Things You'll Need

• Cotton sheets
• Scissors
• Wire clothing hanger
• Wire cutters
• Pliers
• Duct tape or electrical tape
• Safety pin
• Pillow

Instructions

Preparations

1. Lay your sheets out flat. Use scissors to make small cuts every inch along one edge. Pull on either side of each slit, splitting the fabric all the way across to the other side of the sheet. Repeat until your sheet is completely in 1-inch wide strips.

2. Cut a slit one-half inch in length near either end of every strip.

3. Cut a one-eighth-inch segment of a coat hanger with wire cutters. Bend the segment in half with pliers.

4. Tear off or cut a strip of duct tape, and use it to tape your wire together. Start from the cut tips and leave about one-half inch untaped, at the fold. It should appear like a large, blunt needle.

Making the Rug

1. Take two of your strips of fabric, and pull one of them through a hole on the other, about halfway up the strip. Fold this strip in half upward, and push one of the ends through the hole on the opposite end. Pull on the end you pushed through a hole, until you have a small knot. Use a safety pin to secure the knot to the pillow.

2. Spread your two strands apart slightly. Slide the tail of the fabric on the left through the "eye" of the needle you made. Pull the fabric on the left across the strand on the right, leaving a loop to the left. Push the needle under the right-hand strand back to the left, through the loop you made. Pull both strands until the knot is solid, but not so tight the needle can't pass through again. Make three more knots in this manner.

3. Without moving your work, turn your pillow 180 degrees. Holding your strand of knots in place, pull both strands down to the left, so that they are parallel with the strand of knots. Move your needle to the strand on your left. Start making knots as before, but pass the needle through a knot before going under your rightmost individual strand and through the loop.

4. Continue doing this in a spiral pattern, until you have a circle that is approximately 6 to 8 inches in diameter. When you to add a new strip of cotton, push the tip of it through the hole in the end of the short piece. Loop the bottom of the new strip up through the hole in the top, and pull to tighten.

5. Create a row of knots that is about 7 inches long, starting them as you started the other. Flip the piece as you did before and continue to make knots, until your piece is a narrow oval. This is one petal of your daisy. Repeat until you have enough petals to completely surround your circle.

6. Lay your circle down and arrange the petals around it, with one of the narrow ends of each petal touching the circle. Use your needle and more strips of fabric as a needle and thread, and sew the daisy petals to the circle with an overhand stitch. Sew them to each other where they touch, and then weave any loose ends in.

Tips & Warnings

• When you finish your parts you can dye them, following the instructions on your fabric dye.

• You can make the petals rounder by making the initial row of knots shorter.

• Don't make your knots too tight, or you won't be able to get your improvised needle through them.

References

• Alpaca Bytes: How To Make A Rag Rug (Toothbrush Rug)