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DIY Craft: Upcycling Pre-Loved Clothes to A Useful Rug

I have lots of old clothes in my house. This is what I get with a growing child. He outgrows his clothes and I would have to either trash or donate them. I decided to upcycle some of clothes to make a rag rug.


This a relatively easy DIY craft project but it takes time. It took me about 6 hours over 4 days to complete this rag rug. Old t-shirts work best for this project. I used about 3 t-shirts for this rag rug that measures about 30cm by 40cm.


wahsosimple upcycling old clothes to rug

All you need for this DIY craft is a few pieces of old clothes, a piece of anti-skid mat, a pair of scissors and time.


I first cut the t-shirts into small pieces that measure about 10cm by 2.5cm and then tie them into knots to a piece of anti-skid mat. Simple? Yes, very simple. But it takes time to tie the knots. =)


wahsosimple upcycling old clothes to rug

When I am tying of the knots, I have to remember to randomly tie the knots in a mix of right-over-left and left-over-right. If I do not do this and tie all my knots in one way, then the rug will look too neat. I prefer my rug to look more shaggy. =)


wahsosimple upcycling old clothes to rug

I completed the heart with my pink and purple shirts first before working on the white.


wahsosimple upcycling old clothes to rug

As I was tying the knots, I realised that I can actually take a shortcut and skip some of the 'holes'. The rug was turning out to be quite 'puffed' up, so not tying the knot in some of the holes is perfectly alright. This is the back view of the rug. Do you see some of the holes that I have skipped?


wahsosimple upcycling old clothes to rug

It was fun making this rag rug. The greatest payoff is seeing my old clothes on the floor, in a rag, having a new lease of life. =)


Till the next blog post, craft something! =)

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