Rag rugs

Originally this would be done with worn-out clothing, but you can use lots of things. You can make rugs, or also table things, and even scarves if you use really narrow strips and some more ‘normal’ yarn for weft.

Usually use 8/4 cotton carpet warp for the warp, at 12epi or so, plain weave. Closer sett will make your warp much more dominant, wider sett will emphasise the weft (rags). A natural warp will wash the colours out of your weft a bit, you might try a black or dark blue or green, or something vibrant to go with your fabrics. You can use patterned warps too!

Denim is a good source material for textural interest, you’ll need maybe 5-7 pairs of jeans, look for different colours. Dead tshirts are also a decent choice, but you need to take the stretch out as you put it on the shuttle. If you cut it to big loops, you can get a nice texture at the point where you join loops together.

5lb is a vague guess of how much you need, or 1 yard of fabric is about a square foot woven. Fabrics that are dyed in the thread rather than printed are easier to work with - good colour saturation on both sides.

There are special rag shuttles, or you can use ski shuttles. Rag shuttles look like 2 stick shuttles with some dowel in between. The length of the dowel lets you lie the fabric strips flat, so you can get loads more.

Weave a header with the same as your warp yarn both ends. Use your warp yarn doubled, so it is less of a striking transition from header to rags. If you want to do a rolled hem, do 6 picks, a double pick (catching the first warp thread only) where the fold/roll will be, then 8 picks, then a double then 10. Metal temples might be useful if your rug is weft dominant and pulling in a lot, adjust the temple to be the width in reed. This helps reduce wear on your outer warp ends.

Wash your fabric before you prepare it. Cut with a rotary cutter and a straight edge, or just some scissors and a little cardboard template of the right width. Cut notches with your scissors using your template, then rip one at a time, or give alternate tabs to another person and tug-of-war the whole piece of fabric apart. 1.5inch strips would be good for a chonk, down to 1/4inch for a scarf.

Beat really firmly, then change shed, then beat again. You’ll probably struggle to make a very sturdy rug on a rigid heddle, but you can deffo do table things. You’ll need to help the weft turn and flatten the first bit with your finger, before angling the rest of the weft up. Advance your warp often so you can get a nice big shed. Just overlap the ends of a rag to join in a new one if it matches your design, or do a turn at the edge. Taper the very end of your fabric strips to make joins cleaner, and when you need to change strips you can tuck the thinner end in.

Allow maybe 20-25% take-up because of how thick the rags are, or 14 inches on the loom for every finished foot.

For making a hem, overlock the edge or put fraycheck. Cut off any waste at the start. Fold to the first (6 picks) edge and press, then fold to the second edge and press. This is extra easy if you have a striped warp. Clip/pin the roll into place, then sew up using your warp thread (or a heavy sewing machine!). Sew from a warp thread into that doubled pick. Damascus edging works well as a weft protector if you want a fringe. You can leave the fringe loose, or braid or twist. Here’s a video for how to do damascus edge