How to Make an Easy Rag Rug

Grab your rags, fabric scraps, and old shirts – it’s time to make your very own rag rug! This simple project is a great way to add cozy cottage character to your space while making use of what you already have!

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View of the rag rug laying on a hardwood floor. Rag rug is made of white, sage green, and dusty pinks and florals.

Though this project uses a basic crochet stitch, don’t worry if you don’t know how to crochet! I’ll show you the simple steps you need to know. (If you are unfamiliar with crochet, you may want to consider watching the YouTube video below before you read the written instructions.)

I love the look of a rag rug and there are so many possibilities for personalization! You could go a very colorful route with all sorts of random scraps or a more neutral, calm route. It’s totally up to you!

Let’s jump to it!

How To Make an Easy Rag Rug

Supplies Needed

Lots of fabric – rags, scraps, old clothes, etc. (I don’t recommend anything too thick or too slippery.)
Sewing scissors (love my dressmaker’s shears by Gingher)
Rotary cutter and cutting mat, optional
Large crochet hook – size is flexible, but I recommend size N, O, or P.

Questions About Making a Rag Rug

What kind of materials should I use for my rag rug?

You can use pretty much anything, though super thick materials like towels don’t work so well and very slippery fabric like silk aren’t great either.

How much fabric do I need?

It depends on how big your rug will be and how loose your stitches are, but you will need quite a bit. For a very small rug I used several yards of fabric in the form of an old dress, an old skirt, a pajama shirt, two old undershirts, a few pieces of scrap fabric, and a good size piece of leftover curtain lining. All of those amounted to a rug about 2 feet in diameter.

What size crochet hook do I need?

A BIG one! I used size N, I believe, but you could use size M, N, O, or whatever works best for your desired aesthetic. (The bigger the hook the larger your individual stitches will appear.)

Do I need a cutting mat and rotary cutter?

No, you can use scissors but it will take longer.

How long does it take to make a rag rug?

It will get faster as you go and develop a rhythm, but plan to put on a good movie or show for a few nights. Depending on the size of your rug, it will take at least a few hours.

Closeup view of the rag rug with whites, sage greens, dusty pinks. — Loving those florals in this rag rug!

Rag Rug Instructions

Cut your fabric into strips. I like to make mine about 1.5 inches wide. They don’t have to be perfectly uniform or straight- just an estimate is fine! The rotary cutter really makes easy work of this.

Rotary cutter cutting through fabric on top of a cutting mat — A rotary cutter makes easy work of cutting a lot of strips!

2. Tie your strips together. Use the “Right over left, left over right” technique. Don’t worry if there are little flaps of fabric sticking up – they’ll get tucked in. I don’t tie all my strips together right away – just enough to do one section so I can change colors as I want.

Two strips tied together in a double knot. — Tie the strips together.

3. To begin the rag rug, make a slip knot with a prepared fabric strip. If you are unfamiliar with a slip knot, please watch the YouTube video above.

4. Place your hook into the loop and gently pull to tighten. you want to work loosely with this hole rug!

Crochet hook with loop of fabric on it. — Place hook into loop and gently tighten.

5. Loosely chain 3. To chain, wrap the fabric around the hook and draw it through the loop that’s already on the hook. That is 1 chain. Do this 3 times total.

Chain of 3 loops of fabric. — A chain of 3 fabric loops.

6. Form the chain into a circle but placing the chochet hook through the first loop (farthest away from the hook). Pull the working string of fabric around the hook and pull through the first loop on the hook. Wrap the string around the hook again and pull through both loops on the hook. This is called a single crochet. You will now have a circle that will be the very center of your rug. (Shown in video.)

Chain is now connected to form a circle. — This circle will be the very center of the rug.

7. Now you will single crochet into the middle hole. Stick the hook through the middle hole, then single crochet loosely as many times as it takes to get around the circle. Single crochet is just like we did in the previous step – string around hook, pull through one loop, string around the hook again, pull through both loops.

Single crochets all the way around. — Single crocheted into the middle hole over and over until reaching the beginning..

8. Working into each single crochet, make 2 single crochets into each spot. This will add stitches and help to expand the rug. If you don’t add stitches you will end up with a tube instead of a flat rug! If you need assistance with this step, please reference the video.

Center of rag rug after increasing another round. — Alternated 2 stitches and 1 stitch in each hole around the rug.

9. Do the same for the next round, but there’s no need to make 2 single crochets in each spot. This time try alternating 2 in one spot, 1 in the next, keeping your stitches nice and loose.

10. As you continue around the rug, you won’t need to add so many stitches. Try to add just a handful of stitches per round (row) after the previous step. Maybe do 2 single crochets in one hole every 6 inches on your rug. Otherwise, just one single crochet per hole.

Rag rug a little larger. — Wouldn’t this make a cool trivet? I might have to make some mini rag rugs as trivets now!

10. Continue working around and around the rug, tying on and changing your fabric as needed to create your desired rug aesthetic. Work until rug reaches your desired size or you simply run out of fabric!

11. To tie off, cut your string and pull it through the remaining loop to knot it. Trim the tail, leaving a bit to tuck into the rug.

12. Tuck in any fabric tails that are sticking up through the rug.

Rag rug with shades of sage green, dusty pink and florals, and white. — I might use this rug in baby girl’s room.

Honestly I’m still not finished with this rug! I ran out of fabric that I liked. I have plenty of other scraps but they just don’t fit the color scheme I’m going for. Guess I’ll have to make a trip to the thrift store or ask my family if they have any beaten up clothes lying around!

Have you ever made a rag rug or is this a project that you would try? Let me know in the comments below!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions please drop them in the comments section below! Thanks for reading!

Blessings,
Melissa

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