I wanted a braided rug because it'll be tough enough to take the abrasiveness of the rocking chair. And generally, braided rugs are not as expensive as other rugs. But I just can't seem to find one in the right color. Why are braided rugs always so dark and ugly? And why do they always have twenty different colors (that don't match) in them?
After searching online and finding this tutorial, I decided to take on the project of making my own!
I really didn't know what type of fabric to get and I figured quilter's fabric should be sturdy enough (they make blankets out of those things, right?). So I picked out a white fabric that was going for $2.99/yard (+ 50% off with my coupon!).
Initially I was hoping to incorporate two colors into the rug, but I couldn't seem to settle on anything. (I always have trouble picking out fabric.) I then browsed for a long time before settling on a yellow fabric (our rocking chair has a similar yellow in it). The yellow fabric was defective (there are huge white stripes running through the fabric) so they gave me a discount, $5/yard.
I forgot how much the white felt was, but the total for the 10 yards of fabric I got came out to $32. I am hoping to make a 4' round rug. And I just did a quick search online and saw that Etsy is selling rugs this size for $145!
Here's a stack of all the fabric that I brought home, still nicely folded.
I'm not going to lie. This process is tedious and time consuming! However, you can save lots of time by buying honey buns (remember, these are a roll of 1.5" strips of fabric). At the end, it took me around 3-4 hours to tear and roll the fabric.
In hindsight, it would've been faster if I had cut the 6 yard fabric into more manageable pieces before tearing. I felt like I was dealing with a cathedral train wedding dress the entire time! Not fun. Well, lesson learned. :)