Tshirt Rug - Done!!!!

So remember how I said it was a sombrero? Look how much extra braid I had stuffed in the center of the rug before!  (This lighting makes it look sort of bluish.  The last picture in the post is more accurate for color.)

It almost reaches all the way around the rug's outer circumference.  No wonder it was buckling.

So I ended up splicing the extra braid into the end of the original braid to get an extra 2" of diameter on the rug.

And I finished it!  I've done a little more since I took these pictures - like the place where I changed colors at the bottom of that previous picture and the medium gray fabric is sticking out from the braid, that got tacked into place, along with a few other spots around the edges. 

I'll get some more detailed, close up pictures of it in it's new home soon, and get the official diameter for you, but I'm super excited.  And it's flat, I promise (the colors make it look wavy, but I swear, it's not).

See? No waves.  All flat.  Most importantly, it's done!!!

til next time...

Tshirt Rug - 3rd time's the charm

Sooo.... I didn't get a picture, but this rug had turned into a sombrero.  

When your son uses it as a ramp for his monster trucks, you know it's not a great rug.

I think it was the stitch I was using to sew the braids together because at one point I changed my stitch and from that point on the rug was fairly flat.  (I've been told that I am using a blind hem stitch and it's working sooo great for me.)  After telling my husband the options, he suggested I finish sewing it to the end.  (Other options were to rip it out and machine sew it, or rip it all out and start again from the center)

Instead I ripped out the center of the rug until it laid flat.  I started resewing towards the center with the clearly better (for me) blind hem stitch .

It's laying nice and flat now, so I'll keep circling in til I get to the center.  Strange enough, it doesn't feel backwards to sew from the outside in.  

Wish me luck.  If it goes wrong at this point I think I may just keep it a doughnut.  I'm losing a little steam with this one.  I'm very glad I didn't rip out the whole thing.  Definitely saved me time and sanity.

til next time....

Tshirt Rug (or bowl?)

What, you guys don't use your son's monster truck bus to keep your braid from pulling the whole rug off the table?

So, note to self and everyone else.  Don't fold your rug in half while sewing it.  Get a bigger table.  Otherwise...

You'll get a bowl instead!  Yep, major bowlage. 

Or platterage. It's not quite a bowl. Luckily I checked after a few rows (though not soon enough).

Didn't think I could fix it.  Hence, the ball of braided yarn.  4 hours to lace it up, 30 minutes or less to rip it all apart.  

Here we go again. 

til next time...

Tshirt Rug - All Coiled Up

Here it is, all coiled up. 

It's not sewn yet.  I was trying to get an idea of how big it was and if I'd need more shirts.

It's about 24" in diameter (don't know how much that will change when it's actually sewn together), which is perfect for in front of the chair in our bedroom.  Any bigger and it would just be hiding under the bed.

On to the sewing! (Though I may actually try lacing, not sewing.  Depends.  On my patience and skills.  Wish me luck.)

til next time...

Tshirt Rug - The Braiding

With all the strips cut, I started braiding.

My genius set up - I used the hinge of a folding tray table to keep the tension on my braid.  I'd get about 18" braided and then readjust.  Pretty quick while we watched a movie. (Or two).

And it is now all braided. How exciting!  Ready to be coiled and sewn.  Not sure exactly how big it will be.  We'll find out and if I need to grab a few more shirts to add, I can do that.  I like the flexibility of that.

til next time...

Braided Tshirt Rug - The Beginnings

I tend to ramble here.  I have a post waiting to be edited because it basically tells my life story as an intro to my new craft.  I am trying to settle myself down a little.  So here goes!

New craft - doing a braided tshirt rug.  I'm going to be doing a presentation to some ladies at church, so I figure I should make one so I know what I'm doing! 

Tonight I spent 90 minutes cutting up 5 L/XL tshirts.  Tada!

I chopped them up into strips between 2-6 feet and I'll be randomly pulling them from the bag to have all 5 shades mixed throughout.  I hope I like the effect.  ( I also hope this makes an ok size rug.  No other tutorial is very clear about what number of tshirts makes what size rug.  So we'll see, I guess.)

Tomorrow I'll start braiding.  (I did a mini version of this, like coaster size, as a preview for the ladies and I really enjoyed the process, so I'm looking forward to some mindless braiding as I listen to TED talks or watch Netflix or listen to a book on tape or something.)

til next time...