Upcycled Linens Crochet Rag Rug Tutorial

I’m not sure if it is like this everywhere but I have found that I am able to find sheets at thrift stores for cheap. Like $1 for a set of twin sized sheets or $1 for a queen or king size single sheet. There is no way that I could ever purchase that much fabric from a craft store for $1, ever.

I’ll often snap up sheets that have a pretty print with plans to sew from them. But sometimes when you get them home you find little holes and stains that come with normal use and wear and you don’t exactly want to be making throw pillows out of them after all.

BUT, you can always use them to crochet rag rugs. If you utilize re-purposed sheets these suckers are cheap, cheap! Plus they work up quickly. This rag you see here took me about 4 hours start to finish. Oh, and this is a pretty big sucker at 32 inches by 24 inches.

For this project you will need:

• Old sheets or other fabric
• Fabric scissors
• Gigantic crochet hook (this is a Q)
• Sewing machine (optional)
• Dye (optional)

Here is the base fabric that I am using for my rug. I purchased these from a thrift store that binds everything up together and if you open the packaging they won’t sell it to you anymore. The packaging showed that these were pairs of queen size sheets. The cost? $3.68 a set. Mine all mine.

But when I got them home I found that it was actually one fitted sheet in each package and I was disappointed. And that wasn’t enough to make a rug the size I needed. So I pulled out two rather beaten up flat sheets from twin size sets from my stash and dyed them to match.

You’ll need to cut your fabric into strips and sew the ends together to make one long piece of fabric yarn. The easiest way is to fold your sheet up and snip. If you leave a strip where the cuts are still attached you’ll have far less sewing.

I cut my strips anywhere between 1.5 to 2.25 inches wide just because I can never make every cut the same, but I’ve never had any problems with gauge. If you’re worried, you can always use a yard stick or other tool to help cut perfect strips.

It’s easiest if you cut, sew together and ball your fabric yarn as you go. I decided to cut my fabric while watching TV and made piles of strips that were a pain in the neck to undo when I transferred them to my sewing machine in my office. But you live and learn!

If you prefer NOT to sew your strips, never fear. There is always the option of knotting one end to the other OR making a small slit in one strip, inserting the other and doing a simple knot to keep them together. I prefer not do use this method because you can sometimes feel the knot when standing on your rug but sometimes isn’t all of the time :)

Tie a knot in your yarn fabric around your gigantic crochet hook.

Chain your width. FYI- I chained 43 and my finished width is 32 inches. Depending on how loose or tight your stitches are you may get a larger or smaller finished product with the same sized chain.

Double stitch into the fourth chain from your hook. Continue your double stitches until you reach the end.

Chain three, turn the piece and continue double stitching to the end. Keep doing this until you get the size that you are going for. I did a total of 17 rows for right at 24 inches.

When you get to the end, tie off securely. Go around and trim up any weird pieces sticking out of the rug but do a little investigation prior so that you don’t accidentally make a cut that will start the rug unravelling.

And there you have it, my fabulous crochet rag rug made from thrift store sheets. And what do you think of my shoes? I loved them and was going to buy them when my grandmother threw a fit because she had a similar pair I could have. It turned out that these free alternative kicks were some serious granny lady loafers with a heel and looked nothing like the sweet pair above. My father upon overhearing the story went and purchased these shoes and gave them to me on the sly. I have the best dad ever!

Need some help with the basics?

Learn how to crochet a chain here.

Learn how to double crochet here.

Or check out the crochet gallery for other fun projects for a hookin’ good time!