How to Use Carpet Remnants for Area Rugs

Make your own area rug out of a carpet remnant.

Carpet remnants, either purchased or leftover from a wall-to-wall carpet installation, can be cut to specific sizes to make area rugs and runners. Don't just lay a remnant down with the raw cut edges, even if you make a perfectly straight cut. The unfinished edges of the rug will start to unravel with a little use. Finish the edges using a process called binding, which is usually done by a professional with a heavy-duty sewing machine. You can do it yourself without special equipment, however, using an instant rug-binding product that you can purchase online.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Instant carpet binding tape
• Hot glue gun

Instructions

1. Cut the carpet remnant into the shape and size you want using sharp heavy-duty scissors. Lay the cut remnant upside-down on the floor.

2. Unroll a strip of carpet binding tape and remove about 12 inches of backing. Lay the strip against the top edge with the piping overhanging the back of the carpet remnant, starting from the midpoint. Press the tape along the edge, extending past the corner about 1/2 inch.

3. Cut the tape just to the piping. Fold the piping around the edge of the remnant and press the tape along the next edge. Repeat with the other three corners. When the two ends of the binding tape meet, line them up and cut the long end so that the ends fit together seamlessly.

4. Hot glue the ends of the binding tape together. Flip the remnant right side up and lay on the floor so that the edge is against the base of a wall. Pipe a 1/8-inch line of hot glue between the piping and the edge of the remnant, pressing the edge gently against the wall as you go. Repeat on all four sides.

5. Trim any stray pieces of fiber.

References

• Instabind: Tutorial
• Installer Store: Instabind Instructions