Friday 16 September 2011

My Shaggy Rag Rug

A while ago I started my latest project to create a Rag Rug.  After looking for hints and tips on the internet and making some colourful mood boards here and here I decided to make a Shaggy Rag Rug using torn up pieces of fabric through a mesh base.  After 2 monts of toiling away I eventually finished the rug and am pretty pleased with how it turned out, where to put t is another matter but here's how I made it:

I started with offcuts of fabric and some rubber coated mesh, which my Mum had acquired for free and kindly given to me (1).  The fabric wasn't completely to my taste, as Graeme put it 'Granny Like' so I decided not to put too much effort into cutting it up nicely and instead tore strips to create a 'shabby chic' effect (2).  The mesh was very old and had disintegrated around the edges but as I didn't want to pay anything I decided to fold in the edges to secure it (you can see this better in picture (7))
I tried different lengths of fabric settling on about 8cm strips.  I also tried several different techniques for threading the fabric; every hole, every other hole, missing big gaps and knotting so the fabric wouldn't fall out (3). I eventually settle on threading every other hole, any more and fabric became very loose and I didn't want it all to fall out the first time you walked on it (4).  Turning it over gave a really nice shaggy effect (5) so I set about continuing the pattern.

I entirely underestimated how long it would take to finish this project, at first I did believe it would take no longer than a week.  Maybe if I had not used such a tight weave for the base it would have taken less time and use less resources as it got to a point when I thought I may run out of fabric.  As a finished piece it looks amazing and definitely worth the time I spent on it (6).  It's just a shame the colours don't match anything else in my room, but maybe when I have my own place I can find the perfect place for it .

Now complete I think I will shelve this idea for a while, I really love the idea of using towels to make a bath mat, so I may come back to it when I have my own house.  It was a good learning curve and at least I know all the mistakes not to make when I try again. So if you want to make your own and need some hints and tips just let me know!!

Sunday 4 September 2011

I'm Back!!

Ok, ok, so before you bite my head off for not posting in over 2 months... shock horror!! I'm sending out a huge apology to all my loyal followers, thank's for sticking by me.  I'm also sorry but this post has nothing to do with crafting but I feel I need to catch some people up with developments over the last couple of months...

We had an extremely relaxing holiday, we literally did nothing but sunbathe, swim, read and watch movies; it was glorious.  Normally I feel as though I should visit attractions and sample the culture on holiday, but as this was my second trip to Sharm I just didn't feel the need and was quite prepared to do as little as possible.
I think the only day we exerted ourselves was to walk out to a shipwreck on the edge of the coral reef.  We slightly underestimated how far away the edge of the reef was (over a mile) and when we got about three quarters of the way there the sea floor was so covered in black spiky sea urchins I whimped out and we turned back.  About half way back to the shore we came across a small colourful outcrop of coral covered in fish, eels and crabs it was quite amazing, I really must get hold of an underwater camera.  There were lots of critters on the sea shore too, I just loved all the crabs sitting in the afternoon sun blowing bubbles.  This is also the first place I have been where the sea is hot and I mean hot, it was actually like walking into a bath, we had to go back to the pool to cool down.


My top tip for visiting Egypt, take a load of dollar bills with you!! We arrived late on the first day but luckily the hotel had put on a late dinner for us, after a yummy meal we tipped the waiter 1 dollar (60p) for getting our drinks which is nothing and for the rest of thee week we were treated like VIPs.  Every meal he would sort us out a table and have our favourite drinks ready and waiting, which we noticed didn't happen for anyone else.  A small gesture goes a long way!!
Oh and finally this is the penis ash tray Graeme wanted to buy his best mate, I managed to persuade him against it but we did have to take a picture.

After 6 years of studying Graeme has finally graduated yay!! It was a lovely day and the end of an era, now he has to cope with getting back to the real world.

He has also started his new job for a software company in Woking and is surprisingly excited to get into the workplace and start coding.  I think he is also very excited about the prospect of getting paid and has already planned to buy a new xbox 360; not that I am complaining of course, my birthday is coming up soon *hint hint*.

Right, now that I have caught you up with the latest developments I'll get back to what really is important; the crafting!!