Basic DIY: How To Make A Rug With A Paperclip

By Mandi 08/28/2013

Alternate Title:  Your new name is (insert first name until after the first syllable and then add Gyver to it.)  You are caught in the biggest design dilemma of your life. With no way out. You have to save an entire room design with a single paperclip. This is what you do.  I mean, it may be a little long, but it totally would work right?!

If your name is Mandi your McGyver name is MaGyver. Coincidence? I think not. (I will thank you later Mom!)

Basic DIY How To Make A Rug

 

You may be wondering why making a rug is a Basic DIY. The good news? We are not talking major rug making. (if you are feeling extra motivated check out this post on how to really MAKE a rug.)

We are talking, you have a funky size requirement, or can’t find a rug in the size/color/pattern that you are dreaming of, or want to be cheap.

Or if you are feeling extra unlucky all 3.

I dont know about your Homegoods/TJ Maxx but every one that I seem to visit have the same situation going on. Big rugs? None. Small Rugs? 5 zillion. Those are not good odds my friends. And living in Southern Utah, where my options are HG or Target, sometimes you have to let your inner McGyver duct tape his way into your heart.

To make a rug you will need at least 2 smaller rugs, but up to as many as your little heart desires. If you have a large area to fill then you will need more.

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com

1 roll of heavy duty twine

1 small paperclip bent in 1/2

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com-8

 

The best rugs for the job are ones that are flat woven. They make this project much easier. And they are reversible, so all is not lost when your kid *cough* husband spill something on it.

Make sure that your pattern lines up and that you are using the same side of the rug if you are going for a continuous pattern.

Like this:How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com-3

Not like this:

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com-6

 

“Thread” your paperclip with the twine. Push it through one of the end loops of your rug. Pokey ends first. *If you have a knitting needle that will absolutely work too. But for my life, this is what tends to happen.

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com-9

Pull enough of the twine through the loop that you will be able to stitch the entire length of your rug. Its much easier to do this now than to try and coax it through 39 loops.

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com-10

Feed it through a loop on the other rug. Keep it uniform and pretty,  it looks better and is easier that trying to skip around. I did mine through all of the white cotton loops.

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com-13

This is a great project to do while you catch up on your fave tv show or all of the news coverage about Miley’s Twerking fiasco.

To finish it off just knot it a few times and cut your twine.

I made my rug to fit this hard to fit space in my living room.

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com

It totally brightens up the corner, compared to the last one that I had there.Geometric Wall Living Room Makeover @ Vintage Revivals

How To Make A Rug vintagerevivals.com

Each of my rugs were 2.5×4 so my finished rug size is 4×5 and it is just the right size.

And the other good news? You now have a McGyver name. Which basically means that you are cooler than roughly 79% of the population.

#congratulations

Love Your Guts

58 thoughts on “Basic DIY: How To Make A Rug With A Paperclip”

  1. Oh Mandi, you've done it once again! As a kid my mom did this with carpet sample squares and duct tape or carpet tape. In fact when I was 16 I spent the summer with my grandparents, when I came home my room was decorated and had a cool rug that mom had constructed from the samples. I LOVED it! (we had moved and the house was empty the last time I had seen it so this was even more awesome!)

    I really, really love your little corner! The area pops now that you added your cool rug!

  2. Wow, I gotta try that! You're absolutely right though, I always run into the cutest tiny rugs but the bigger ones are harder to come by (on mega sale that is!). Thanks for sharing.

  3. Ok~ I seriously just LOVE you! I can't help but grin from ear to ear and chuckle every time I read your posts. Thank you for making a few moments out of my day UBER happy ones! Not to mention blasting me with your design genius! XoXoX ~Erica L.

  4. Could you use a bobby pin to do the same thing? Like one that's bigger of course and too loose for your hair. Just a thought 🙂

  5. It looks awesome!! Your space is so cute!
    I did something similar in high school with two flokati rugs from Pier 1, rather than spend hundreds on a big 8×10 or whatever in a catalog, we bought two 4x6s and I sewed them together with strong ivory string and a biiiiiig needle. Totally worked!

  6. I probably would have ended up duck taping them together on the bottom, or just putting them together…no McGyver…or AlGyver in me :)…and let's just say…way to keep it classy Miley, seriously.
    Love the rug though by the way!

  7. I think I would have to sew some bias binding around the edge to cover the split. It would drive me crazy and it's an easy fix with a sewing machine and heavy needle.

  8. You have a God-given gift in that you think outside the box. I would have never thought to do that, but I definitely will now.

  9. TOTALLY have seen designers on HGTV send rugs out to be sewn together. You now, to their PEOPLE. So this is for those of us who have no people. We *are* the people! Power to the people, etc. So kthx for this Mandi!

  10. JaGyver here! Seriously awesome idea with the rugs, definitely will remember that next time I find two smaller ones that I really like. Just a great idea, thanks for sharing 🙂

  11. I was thinking about linking rag rug place mats or small rugs to create a table surface. Especially during the holidays when every surface is covered. Have you ever done this?

  12. JaGyver be kidding me! I love this rug! Loved the idea of making a big rug out of little ones from your epic room makeover but LOVE the pattern and texture/color of this one! Will my home goods have these rugs? That is the question!

  13. As soon as I saw this on pinterest I thought to myself "She McGyver'd a rug?? I must know more!" Great job! I'm looking to replace my living room rug and this has giving me hope to DIY something in my budget. …….Also that desk is amazing.

    P.S. I deleted the previous comment by accident. ^

    http://www.twintageblog.com
    Lisa.

  14. ~sigh~ I found the post with the desk. I'll wander listlessly thru my HG a year late but still looking around for the desk regardless.

  15. I stumbled onto this post via Pinterest. I’ve been wanting to make a rug somehow and when I saw this tutorial, I wasn’t just thinking “cool idea”, I realized that what you were doing was the same thing I do when joining two bound off ends of a knitting project and there is a way to graft them together to make it look as if it’s one continuous piece. Let’s just say, if I ever decide to do this project, I’m going to be playing around with the grafting technique and see what happens.

    Love the paperclip idea. I’ll have to remember that if I ever lose my tapestry needles. 🙂

  16. Love this! Can you please tell where you got these rugs from?? They are exactly what I’ve been searching for forever! Thanks!

  17. Is that wallpaper? And if so where is it from? Rug and room are awesome too! Would love to know about the wall as well!

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