Making Rag Rope

Day 293: First, I'm going to give you a tidbit of generational wisdom which was handed down to me by my mother who learned it from my grandmother. In their respective eras, products were not as readily available as they are today. Many items were repurposed after they had outlived their original uses, giving rise to the old saw, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." It is a philosophy I embrace, and it goes without saying that the world would be better off without the overabundance of single-use disposables we see today.

Now enter the sewing stash, and mind how you open the door to that cupboard lest you find yourself caught in a fabric avalanche. Anyone who sews experiences this dilemma to some degree. Trimmings from the cutting table are too long, too big to be thrown away. They go in a box (possibly labelled "quilting scraps" as mine is), in a drawer, in a trunk. The pile grows with each garment made. The more ambitious members of our unofficial guild of hoarders make quilts; our closets are full of quilts, our friends have quilts, and still the seams threaten to burst on our drawers, boxes and cupboards. Oh, whatever can we do to relieve the pressure? How about making some rag rope? It's easy, it's a mindless occupation (you can do it while watching TV), and it opens up a new chapter in our mental Big Book of Projects.

To start with, you're going to need strips of fabric. How many? Enough for your project. I'm planning to use this hank for a woven rag rug, but you could just as easily turn it into a basket, a washable shopping bag, rustic mats to put under hot dishes on your dinner table. For my rug, however, I will need roughly 100 yards. I turned out 12 yards yesterday, in between all the other things I was doing. So, assuming that you're going to make a rug (woven, braided or sewn), cut your strips approximately 1.5" wide. If some of your fabrics are lighter than others, cut those strips slightly wider. Tie or sew the ends of two strips together as a starting point. Let's go!

Step 1: pinch and hold your starting point, then take one of the strips and give it a few turns AWAY from you (the direction is important, so listen up). You can do this by engaging a finger about four inches from the pinch point, and yes, your finger is probably going to get trapped a few times before you get the hang of this motion. Once you have the twists made, you're ready for Step 2: bring the twisted strip TOWARD you so that your second strip is now in the upper position. Reposition your pinch point to hold the twist in place. Step 3 is essentially a repeat of Step 1 using the other fabric strip, and likewise, Step 4 is a repeat of Step 2. Completion of the four steps will bring you back to your original position. You can make your twists looser or tighter depending on your project preferences. New strips can be added in several ways. I prefer to overlap the ends by an inch, fold them together and take a few stitches through all layers to secure them. If raw edges or the occasional sight of the reverse side of a print offend your obsessive-compulsive nature, you could fold and press the strips to minimize their occurrence. I'm not that particular. After all, this is a rag project and should have a "homegrown" feel.