How to Make a Wool Rug

We love the beauty of a wool rug, but do not think of making it ourselves. This piece will encourage you to make a wool rug on your own. You just have to follow the steps that are explained in the next section carefully and you will have a very creative and colorful wool rug of your own.

We will be focusing on the making of a braided wool rug as it is the basic and easier one for the beginners. A braided wool rug is very colorful and appears in an oval shape. It is easy to make but requires lot of patience. But once it is ready you will feel satisfied with your efforts. Take a look at the list of materials required to make a wool rug.

• Wool strips
• Large binder clip
• Needle and thread
• Scissors
• Iron

Step #1
Cut wool strips of about 3-4 inches wide to a length of your choice. You can use old wool blankets or other woolen clothing, but take care that the fabric is not completely worn out as it may tear the rug.

You can even contact your local dealer for used blankets which is of no use to them. If you want to make a rug matching your home decor, you can always buy wool in various colors.

Step #2
Ironing the strips is very important because it will help to keep the strips straight and braiding can be done smoothly. Fold the strips in half, lengthwise, and iron them. Open the strip and fold the long edges to the center crease. Close it properly and iron once again.

Step #3
Take three strips and sew their ends together and start braiding them. The length of the strips should vary because the places where the new strip is added will be different avoiding the lump of strips.

When you are adding a new strip, open the end of it and also of the previous strip and sew them together and start braiding again. Continue braiding until you finish the whole fabric. While braiding, keep rolling the strips into a ball. If you want to stop in the middle and do some other work, pin the braid with a large binder clip.

Step #4
Now this is the concluding step of your rug making as you are going to sew your braided strips into a rug. Decide the shape of your rug and sew accordingly. Keep the first length of the braided material about 13 inches long (for oval shape) and begin the second length along the first.

Keep hand sewing the lengths with one another as you proceed. Remember to keep some heavy item on the portion that is sewed to keep it flat, otherwise it will keep rising up and obstruct your sewing.

You might be interested in knowing how professional rug makers make these wool rugs. Here is a gist of the steps followed by the professionals to make wool rugs:

• They turn the naturally extracted wool into yarn.
• Then they wash the yarn first in detergent and then in clean water.

• The next step is dyeing the yarn. Dyeing the yarn before it is tufted into fabric is better because the dye reaches each and every thread of the yarn.
• They now weave the rug which has two primary methods namely, hand knotting and hand tufting.

• After the rug is woven, it is the time to wash it. Washing is done to remove the dirt and yarn particles.
• The final step is of leveling the rug by shaving it which gives it the finishing touch and a neat look to the rug.

So, that was all about the ways for making wool rug. We hope you enjoyed learning it and we assure you that you will enjoy it even more when you attempt to make it. This activity will serve two purposes. You will have fun doing it and will also be able reap the benefits of wool rugs. You can then take pride in showing your creation to people.