Frugal Living - Making Rag Rugs

Winter lasts a long time here in Scotland, so we tend to feed the wild birds all year round. We are cheaper buying a 25kg sack of peanuts - a luxury extravagance, I know, but bird watching is a relatively cheap hobby when less than £30 a year means you always have something to tempt an assortment of species into your own garden and watch them from the comfort of your livingroom. The peanuts get delivered in a hessian sack and we've just finished last year's supply, so, waste not, want not! The hessian sack is going to get turned into a rag rug for using in front of the fire. This is my first attempt, so the project could take some time. I'm starting on the outer edge and, depending on how well it goes, I might try a design in the centre (on the reverse side). I don't have any 'tools' for rugmaking, so I'm using a corncob holder for prodding the fabric through the hessian.

05/02/10 - The empty peanut sack and a pile of scrap material - old clothes, curtains, sheets etc can be shredded and turned into a rag rug but you could also use thick carpet wool.	After unpicking the seams and opening out the hessian sack, I shake it clean then lay it flat. Then begins the task of prodding the strips of rags through the sack in loops. This is the back.
Shredding the material - I just cut the top and tear it along the line of the fabric. The strips are about 1cm wide, some a little more, some a little less.	The front looks like this - I'm using a corn cob holder to prod the shredded fabric through in a continuous line of loops.
Prodding the scraps of material through the hessian using the corn cob holder	It will be a very colourful affair once it's eventually done, as the material is mostly patterened.