DIY Thursday: A pretty braided rag rug for the nursery

I promised to share details of a DIY project for the nursery with you last week. And then life fell apart a little bit and I never did. Sorry! Please forgive me. I’ll make up for it this week by giving you a little tutorial with photos on it today.

If you remember, one of the items on the floor plan for the nursery is a big round rug. Technically, a 4 feet in diameter round rug.

Rugs, especially larger round ones, can be very expensive so I knew off the bat I would need to do some brainstorming for a creative way to meet that need without the large expense. I considered a few options, including knitting a rug, quilting a rug, or even using a large blanket. Then I had a little conversation with an older relative, who mentioned the rag rugs her mother used to make from cast-offs and old sheets. PERFECT!

I picked her brain to see what she remembered of her mother’s technique and then did a little online research. This tutorial is my adaptation of that information… but I’m also going to include links at the end if you want to do more research into the different methods that are possible. Warning: this project requires a lot of eyeballing and figuring it out as you go along. This isn’t a project for someone who requires very specific directions because the need to adjust as you go along will drive you crazy.

So let’s get started!

Materials:
Cotton, cotton flannel, or wool fabric (old curtains or sheets are good, in colors that you like)
scissors
large darning needle
heavy thread in a coordinating color (carpet thread is good)

Directions:

1) Cut the fabric into 3″ wide strips. The longer the better, but preferably all the same length.

2) Divide the strips into three equal piles. Then, for each pile, sew the strips together end to end, until you have three long strips remaining (one for each pile). It’s very important that these three strips are the same length!
3) This step is for the anal people (if you’re not anal, skip ahead to #4). If you’re a type A personality, it probably will bother you to see all these raw edges hanging around. So this is the time for you to grab your iron and ironing board and make your strips nice and neat by folding the raw edges under, then folding your strips in half and ironing them. This keeps the raw edges out of sight. You quilters can probably do that with your fingers… you know, that finger ironing thing you do…I’m no good at it, so I used an iron for my samples.

4) Tack the top of the three strips together.
Place this tacked edge under something flat and heavy. This is important! Then begin braiding. You don’t have to braid very tightly, just aim at keeping the same tension throughout.

5) Depending on the length of your strips, you can either: braid until you have about a foot and a half of fabric unbraided and then begin to shape your rug, or braid until you have about a foot and a half of braided cord, then shape and sew the rug together as you go along. (I’d go the second route because I have to see a project coming together to keep myself motivated.)

6) Continue to cut strips and attach as needed to make your braid long enough to make the size rug you want.

7) Finish by tacking the end of the braid and then sewing it to the rug.

I only worked with a sample to create this tutorial (as you can see), so feel free to e-mail me if you have specific questions. And, as promised, the following are links to other tutorials that feature different techniques. I promise it won’t hurt my feelings if you decide one of their versions works better for you.

Variations:

• Do you crochet? Then you’ll love this version of a rag rug by Vintage Chica.
• Want to be more authentic? Read these braided rag rug instructions from 1932. (The pictures on this scan are great!)
• Find all kind of in depth information about rag rugs at Rugmaker’s Homestead.
• Not real instructions, but a pretty picture of a finished rug over at yes, i MADE that, to encourage those of you who might be freaked out about a project that requires winging it

Happy DIY-ing!

Shauntelle

Designing a nursery fit for a Princess: week 1

It’s been a busy week behind the scenes as we begin our countdown to the birth of Tricia’s baby girl, Elizabeth, and her new nursery.

See that space? That’s the area we’re working on. Tricia’s immediate (and big) project is decluttering and she talks about the plan to do that in her post from Tuesday. In the meanwhile, it’s been my project to take the bones of that space and design a pretty room that will fit the needs of baby and mama.

I started by sending a little questionaire to Tricia. In addition to finding out the basic measurements of the room, window, and closet, I needed to know how she intended to use the space, her general design style, and what “feel” she wanted to shoot for. Through the questionaire, I discovered that Tricia loves the romance and details of Victorian design (hmmm… now who would have figured a romance writer would love romantic details? LOL !). And she’ll need the nursery to be a quiet retreat for her and the little princess for nursing and naps (and escaping a busy man-filled household I bet!).

We also discussed the design budget and potential challenges. Tricia wants to use a budget of $300 -$500 for this project. (I know some of you might be raising your eyebrows at this, but hey, this is a blog about BUDGET design, remember? We’re gonna rock that room for well within that budget, I promise you!)

Tricia’s in-laws have a white crib and bassinet in storage that baby Elizabeth will be able to use. This is a blessing, because that means we don’t have to budget for those big purchases. The minus (or challenge) is that they are white, and the room is white, and their home is a rental, so there’s no painting. This means we’re gonna have to bring color into the room in some other way… most likely accessories and fabric treatments. The other challenge is that the one small closet in the room has a slanted floor. This limits its use for storage somewhat, so buying furniture that will provide storage for onesies and cloth diapers and other baby accoutrement will be a big priority!

So let’s review. Our goals for the nursery are:

• Create a peaceful, calming, Victorian retreat
• Provide plenty of storage
• Bring color into the space with accessories and fabric
• Stay within a $500 budget

Tricia also requested that we include a comfy glider for late night nursing and general cuddling.

Armed with that information, here’s the results of my work for the week:

Floorplan (via Jordan’s Room Planner)

And, debuting for the first time ever, here is the inspiration board for baby Elizabeth’s Victorian inspired nursery:

1. Color & pattern inspiration, 2. Custom curtains similar to these in toile with pom-pom fringe, 3. Definitely need a victorian style mirror, 4. if we can’t find a dresser, we could do this to an inexpensive bookcase, 5. Must have bookcase for $50, 6. cute side table - $18, 7. example of victorian style dresser, 8. These are the details we need on pillows, bedskirts, curtains, 9. crib bedskirt inspiration, love color, add pom-pom fringe 10. pom-pom fringe, 11. glider, 12. example of boudoir pillows 13. dark olive ribbon to add to curtains, bedskirt, pillows

What do you think Tricia? What do ya’ll think? Does this provide the bones of a pretty and soothing Victorian nursery? I am a little nervous about the feedback…so be gentle with me!

So that’s it from me so far. If Tricia agrees with these ideas at this point, the next step will be to create a source list for the items that have to be bought and a DIY list for the accessories and decorations that we’ll be making. I have some GREAT ideas brewing for inexpensive DIY projects… so go tell Tricia to give me the go ahead so I can start letting ya’ll in on them!

DIY Thursday: We’re Having a Baby!

Okay, WE are not having a baby. My friend, romance writer and fellow mom blogger, Tricia Ballad, is having a baby girl!

Tricia is my WAHM hero. Somehow she finds a way to write, manage her household, and homeschool her three energetic little boys without appearing to break a sweat. AND she always has time to share advice and encouragement with new freelance writers like myself who don’t always have a clue which way to go. I absolutely adore Tricia!

So you can imagine how excited I was when she asked if I’d help her design a new nursery for our little Elizabeth. After years of Tonka trucks and Legos, Tricia is really looking forward to preparing for a little girl. Starting with a really peaceful and feminine nursery, a place that will be their lady retreat from their mostly masculine world.

I am soooo all over this project. Since we’re both bloggers, we decided to make it a shared blogging project too– that way you guys can enjoy the process as we go along. Over here ya’ll will see the budget design process in action… every Thursday for the next six weeks, we’ll discuss the design of the nursery from working out a budget and determining what look Tricia is shooting for to the creation of easy, inexpensive projects to create an adorable, but functional nursery.

Tricia, as I mentioned before, is a PRO at home management. So over at her place, you’ll get all the management details and the actual results of the projects we develop here. On Thursdays Tricia will discuss her goals for the week and on Tuesdays, she’ll show you what she tackled.

And all the while, we’ll be counting down to little Elizabeth’s arrival. Right now, her due date is supposed to be 8 to 10 weeks away. My hunch is that she’s gonna come sooner… Regardless, the pressure is on!

Isn’t it all so very exciting? We hope you’ll join us every week to see the progress. There’s even a plan in the works to hold a little contest so that one reader from each of ourblogs has a chance to win a goodie! So don’t forget to check in every Thursday, starting next week, okay? And be sure to pop over to Tricia’s blog, Living at the Speed of Life, today to read her take on the project and to say hello.

Before I go today, to whet your appetite, I’m leaving you with some of the images that are inspiring my thoughts on the nursery… Don’t blame me if they start any biological clocks ticking though! : )

I think Auntie Shauntelle NEEDS to buy this for our Elizabeth. What baby girl doesn’t need a tutu, especially a handmade one from etsy store Tickles and Tutu’s? (And how cute would it be hanging on a wall as dimensional art? )

This is the kind of elegant and peaceful retreat I think our ladies need (picture from HGTV.com). The brown is a little more bold than Tricia is going for, but isn’t that chandelier lovely?

Aren’t these charming illustrations from the etsy store of Sarah Jane Studios? I find the little girl reading especially appropriate for the daughter of a writer.

And the details on this handmade christening gown by Prairie Roses are perfect inspiration for curtains in an elegant, feminine room.