In the nineteenth century, rag rugs were very popular with Shaker and Amish communities who believed in living a simple life and wasting nothing. Crafting these rugs was seen as a wonderful way of keeping busy, but in a leisurely, enjoyable kind of way, and with the added bonus of a beautiful, and useful, piece of artwork at the end of the process.
Because rag rugs were generally seen as utilitarian, and so got a lot of hard wear, very few remain from the nineteenth century. In some households these rugs were laid upside down, and only turned the right way up to reveal their clean, bright colours when visitors were expected. They were moved from room to room as they became more worn, eventually being relegated to the kitchen or even the dog's bed before ending life on the compost heap!
There were various methods of making rag rugs at that time. Early American settlers simply plaited strips of old cloth and coiled them round, rather like a giant seagrass table mat, whilst in Scandinavia they were handwoven on looms. Usually though, old jute feed sacks were used as a backing through which strips of fabric were hooked or prodded. Once the feed sack had been unpicked and washed, a design would be drawn upon it which varied in complexity depending upon the skill of the artist. It could be flowers, fruit, animals, geometric motifs or perhaps a simple message or Biblical text. The rags were then torn up, into short strips for prodded rugs and longer ones for hooked rugs, sewn into a single long strip if necessary.
Rag rugs fell out of fashion in the 1920s and their fall was complete with the introduction of fitted carpets after the Second World War. Today as we become much more conscious of the need to save and recycle, and more aware of the beauty of vintage crafts and fabrics, they are gaining in popularity once more.
If you want to try making a rag rug for yourself, do choose cotton or wool fabrics as synthetics attract dirt more. You can use any old fabric you have to hand, and it's a great way of recycling worn or outgrown clothing that really is beyond wear. Be sure to wash all your fabrics before you begin to ensure they don't shrink unevenly when you need to wash your rug.
You will need loosely woven fabric for your backing. If you are keen to recycle, then you can try to obtain old hessian sacks, but if you can't get hold of these, then hessian can be bought new quite easily. The only equipment you'll need is a rug hook or large crochet hook. You will find it's easier to handle your rug if you attach it to a rectangular frame. Don't be too ambitious to start with - for your first attempt go for a very easy design and a smallish size of rug so you don't become discouraged.
Once you've cleaned and hemmed your backing fabric, then draw your design directly onto it with a wax crayon. The rug is worked the right side up from side to side and top to bottom if you are using a frame, or from the centre outwards if you're working without a frame. Hold a strip of fabric beneath the hessian with one hand with one end at the place you want to begin. Then push your hook down through the hessian and pull the end of the strip up through the fabric. Make your next hold as near to the first as you can and bring up enough of your fabric strip to make a loop about 1 cm or 1/2 inch high. Continue until you reach the end of your fabric strip, pulling the end up and trimming it to the same length as your loops. Start your next strip in the same way as the first.
And that's it - it's really that easy! Good luck with your first rug, and I'm sure you'll find that reusing vintage fabrics is fun, as well as great for the environment.
