I don’t know about you lot, but I feel like there are some pretty borezo rugs out there and this just does not tickle my fancy in the slightest. I think our floors (and feet) deserve much more, and what better way to brighten up your space than with your very own handmade rug!

MATERIALS:

70 x 55cm rug canvas
dark marker
9 x 8cm piece of solid cardboard or plastic
scissors
large needle
grey thread
latch hook
small bowl
t-shirt yarn in the following colours:
- grey
- light pink
- hot pink
- yellow
- teal

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Lay the canvas out flat and trace around the bowl with the marker.

2. Once you’re happy with the pattern, get out the piece of plastic or cardboard and wrap a couple of layers of yarn around it and cut along the top and bottom so you have a little pile of threads roughly 9cm long.

3. I’ve found that all balls of t-shirt yarn vary in width so you may have to cut some down the middle to thin them out – otherwise you’ll struggle to get it through the canvas.

4. Now for the fun part! Insert the hook through one square on the canvas so the latch has gone all the way through to the other side.

5. Loop one piece of yarn around the hook and hold on to the ends while you pull the hook back toward you so the latch grabs on to the yarn.

6. Continuing on, pull the hook half way through so the yarn is sitting between two squares. Still holding on to the ends, push the hook back up and grab on to the ends with the hook and latch.

7. In the same motion, pull the ends back through the loop and it will have created a type of slip knot. Just like the band.

8. Use your fingers to pull the knot tight so it can’t think about running away from home because that’s rude and you need it to stay in place.

9. Continue on filling in the circles you’ve drawn with each colour and use the grey yarn to make up the rest of the rug. I recommend only doing every second square because t-shirt yarn is quite thick. That being said, you may find that certain yarns are thin enough you might have to do every single square. I like to use leftover pieces of yarn to fill in any obvious gaps.

10. When you get near an edge on the top and the bottom of the canvas, fold it over an inch or two to the back.

11. Do your loops through both layers to keep it in place – this way you won’t have to worry about hand-stitching it down afterwards!

12. If you have a thick selvedge on the sides of your canvas after you’ve finished the rug, fold it over and get out your needle and thread to keep it in place.

13. Trim off any awkward long pieces of yarn sticking out across the top of the rug and you’re done!

For more crafty goodness from the super-talented Phebe, scoot over this-a-way.