T-Shirt No Braiding - Braided Rug

I have finally forced myself to finish my t-shirt rug I started last February. I really have no excuse as to why I just stopped but I did. Threw it along with the balls of t-shirt fabric under the couch and forgot about it...until yesterday. I was unpacking from our recent move to south Texas and found this long forgotten project under my couch. (If you are unfamiliar with RVs, I have a futon-like couch that allows me storage space underneath...not a lot of storage and not easy to get in or out of but works perfect to stuff yarn and other craft project inside...thus also working to store some of my wall hangings in the softness of the yarn while traveling.)

I taught a class on making rugs out of strips of fabric, I just chose to use my husbands old T-shirts. At the rate he goes through them I could probably make one for every RV in the park! This particular rug has 6 shirts in it. When I started this rug I wasn't blogging and didn't even thing about taking pictures and explaining how to strip a shirt so that it is all one piece and not a bunch of strips you'd then have to sew together....oh well, maybe next time!

There are so many ways to make a "braided" rug. For a traditional braid you would make thin strips then braid them together. Once you have sufficient braid you would just start to roll it into the shape you want, tacking it together with needle and thread as you go. That seemed like more work to me so I choose to crochet mine. I used the largest hook I could find, mine is a Q, and began chaining. The more chains you do the longer and skinner your rug will be, the less the shorter and fatter it will be...with the same amount of material of course. If you want it round just chain two and work an even number of single crochet (sc) into the 2nd chain from hook. Once I had my chain, I did a slip stitch (ss) into the back loop only all the way down both sides with 3 in each end for increasing purposes. And I just kept going around and around. If your work begins to curl just add a couple extra ss evenly around the piece of work and it will lay down.

Don't ever be afraid to rip something out. Yes I know you put a lot of work into it but if it's not right, and it is obvious, then it needs to be fixed! With practice you will find yourself ripping out much less often. And if you don't rip it out and fix it, every time you look at your piece all you will see is that flaw and not the beauty you created with your own two hands. Enjoy!