This year (December 2011) at our annual rug-hooking Christmas party a friend (Carol Lawlor)
showed us some little braided mats using the strips of wool we use in rug hooking. As there are many strips left over after completing a rug or a hooked piece....you soon accumulate quite a stash of random width strips....various colors. I had heard of these little mats and one day tried to make one...not very successfully. Tossed it aside and forgot about it. Carol told us she was going to give a demonstration ....How-To...at the next Guild Meeting. Since I would be gone I was not happy to miss the demo. They were SO cute...looked exactly like a larger braided rug. She said they required LOTS of steaming so the next day or so I attempted again. The braiding went well but hand-lacing them together was very tedious....frustrating! So I attempted to zig-zag on my sewing machine....a very wide zig-zag. It worked beautifully....any distortion was corrected wit heavy steaming. I did back them with a piece of felt..also zig-zagged ....gave them more stability. I have to say "Thank You Carol."...I have now made 6 of them..my favorite one is the one using one of Anita's (our rug hooking teacher) crazy spot dyed pieces with wild colors.
Wow! Those are so cute! I'm so glad you kept trying and discovered the zigzag approach. Kind of like making the bowl out of the fabric covered cord, right? You clever girl! Bring these to Anita's when you get back from all your travels.
ReplyDeleteYou did great! I was thinking of using the sewing machine as well. The lacing is tedious. I presented the class on Saturday, and have extra handouts if you'd like one. Carol
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