# Rug



## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

When braiding a rug, how do you keep ends from getting tangled?


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

How long are the strips you are working with? Some people wind the ends up in a ball, one for each strand. I just never cut my pieces of cloth longer than 4'-5' long, braid til I run out of strip and then sew the next one on. clear as mud?


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

It was very clear. What do you use to sew together. I've heard of using fishing line. Not dried in dryer. Also, how do you keep from buckling. I tried a rug once before and had this problem. Thanks.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

For sewing the strips together, I just use regular sewing thread. What I'm talking about here, is sewing strips together to make the 3 strands of braid, not sewing the braids them selves. For that I use waxed lined string. However, most of my rugs are made from denim so are pretty heavy. I think a heavy fishing line would work fine for a lighter weight material. 

I still have issues with buckling sometimes. Part of it is how you lace on the curved ends, if in oval rug. Sometimes you have to go through 2 strands of braiding on the outside braid, otherwise it makes things too tight and you get a bowl shape more than a rug. My big problem is that I lace too tight on the whole rug. I have to remember to loosen things up a bit. It helps me to lace the rug on a flat surface like a table or the floor. Then I can see sooner if I'm getting things too tight and can fix it before it's way too late. I have a beautiful flannel rug I just finished that I didn't do that with and I need to unlace the whole thing and do it again. Ugh!


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## Mickey (Aug 28, 2002)

I agree with thermopkt about keeping the pieces of fabric you're using to a manageable length. 
To stop the curling you'll find that you need to skip,not lace through every loop, as you make your way around the curves. With a bit of practice you'll be able to "feel" when you need to skip a loop. I also find that if you notice a bit of curl on an end after you've gone around it, there's no need to go back to re-lace it, but rather just fix it the next time around by skipping as many loops as neccesary to make it lay flat.
I use regular rug lacing to lace the rugs together. I hope this helps


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

Big help from both of you. Can I sew 2 braids together and then sew both of them into a rug?


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

Sandra Spiess said:


> Big help from both of you. Can I sew 2 braids together and then sew both of them into a rug?


I believe so. I have one commercial rug that has one color taper off and ends sort of like a tiny rug. The next color is a whole new braid. It's that way with each color change.


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

It was late and I probably didn't explain myself well. I meant sewing two braids together side by side not joined at ends. Hope that's clear. You've certainly given me a better 'plan' than I had before.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

You mean sewing two braids together to act as one braid to make the rug? I still think that would work, just be a bit more effort. Should look kinda cool, though.


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

Good, because I'm running out of material to do the original way. How many full size sheets would it take to make a rug bigger than a bath mat? Stayed up late working on this so tired.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

I don't know exactly, I usually work in old denim. The flannel rug I just finished is roughly 43" x 33". It has one king fitted sheet, one queen/full fitted sheet and one queen/full top sheet in it. The braid is 1" wide.

Pics when you're done?


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## Mickey (Aug 28, 2002)

I guess it would work to lace the two braids together, as long as it's stays flat, but I guess I don't understand why you need to do it that way?

I'm afraid I'm no help as to how many sheets you will need as the rugs I've made
have been made from wool.


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