Mug Rugs

Mug Rugs

an Instructional for crocheters

Many of us have seen or heard of rag rugs. Their origin appears to be Swedish, but they were very commonplace in early American homes. 

These rugs were made out of any kind of cloth, but typically cottons and sometimes wool. 

Most were made from braided scraps that were then stitched together in round, oval, square or rectangular patterns shapes. These scraps had to be accumulated for years from worn out clothing and bedding fabrics, and were greatly prized because they were comfortable, substantial and quite frankly were the only option available to the frontier families.

Learn More About Rag Rugs 

My Mug Rug creation came from the light bulb over my head, when faced with some leftover fabrics and a desire to do something different. 

Also, I'd been sewing quite a bit and really needed to knit or crochet for a change. 

Here is a mini tutorial on how to create some for yourself or a friend.

Each Mug Rug was made out of a scrap of material approximately 7" x 22" (154 sq inches). The exact size is irrelevant, as the square footage is the key. However, the smaller the scrap the more tearing will need to be done which will necessitate more edges, and edges take up a bit more fabric. So if your scrap is more square shaped, you will probably need closer to 200 sq inches, or a 14" x 14" piece to have enough material.

*note - some materials are cut "off weave" and you may notice, when you start tearing, that your strip is getting much larger or smaller. If you have plenty of fabric, don't be too concerned. But if you have a limited amount, you will probably need to add a bit of another material to get a long enough strip.

To start, make a cut about .5" wide, just long enough to get a good grip for the ripping that comes next.

And start ripping!

If you have a selvage edge on one side, you don't need to slow the ripping process down near the end of the row, because the selvage will stop your progress.

But for cut edges, you do need to take care, and stop about .5" from the edge.

Then you will start again in the opposite direction.

Your strip/s should be at least 6.5 yards long.

Roll the strip/s up in a ball.

 I made this instructional for crocheters because this is not a crochet instructional and you need to have some basic crochet skills to accomplish the same results. 

Use whatever starting loop you want. I used a magic circle and started with 5 sc's, then a round of 2 sc in each sc (10 sc), but from there it depended on how the fabric was reacting. You may be able to do another round of 2 sc in each sc, or you may need to do just 1 sc in some of the sc's.

I only used single crochets, and my hook size was a "J" 5.75mm. 

And in the final 2 sc's, I did slip stitches so there wouldn't be a drastic change in shape. 

The final product looks a little lumpy/bumpy but a good steam press helps to not only flatten things out, but also gives the Mug Rug some stiffness to the body.

They come out at about a 3.5" diameter and work well with most mug sizes.

If you have lots of scrap material (especially long narrow strips), try making a trivet, or even a set of place-mats. If you cut the strips just a bit wider, you could make a nice cushy throw rug. 

Here's my Holiday ensemble.

Until next time...