Rag rug progress

Materials for my rag rug. A pile of old white t-shirts.

Like those plastic covered chairs they're resting on? Courtesy of the previous homeowners. Ugly. But it's something to sit on for now...

Cutting station: kitchen cabinet box on the floor + a pair of scissors.

I cut the strips at about 1/2". Definitely no measuring happening for this project.

I stopped after two t-shirts. I wanted to get started!! Also, if this project didn't work out, I would have to find something else to do with a mountain of t-shirts strips...

The tool! I cut a coat hanger, bent it around and fastened it with duct tape. It's been working so far! If I were to make another tool, I would make it shorter. This one is about 5" or 6" which makes it difficult to "sew" when the t-shirt strip gets short.

First four knots. I got the basics for starting the rug from this video.

This is where the tool comes in. Once you have hand knotted the first row (only five knots in this case) you thread one strip through the eye of your tool and start looping and knotting around the other strip and through the knots you have already made. Clear as mud? And then around and around you go!

It's definitely a messy first attempt. I wasn't quite sure how to round the corners and still have it look even. I was also too impatient (shocking) to stop and watch the tutorial videos again.

Peanut offering assistance....or napping.

Around this point things got a little interesting. My rug started taking a on a new form.

It is now a rag bowl.

Maybe I'll continue with this and create one of these?

Or maybe a new hat for this man.

Seriously though, I guess I just started making the outter ring knots too tight. Also, the Etsy rugs that inspired this project seem really heavy duty and thick. Mine seems more like a pot holder. For the next rug I may try looping around upholstery piping cord instead of another t-shirt strip to give it some bulk and structure.

Have you made a rag rug? Any tips for me?