How to Sew a Bathroom Rug
For many people, their bathroom is their innermost sanctuary. It is the room you spend quality time in making yourself look and feel great. Much time and effort is spent creating that prefect atmosphere in your bathroom and a custom made hand sewn rug could be just the ticket for that finishing touch.
Items Needed:
- At least 1 bath towel
- ½ yard to 1-yard patterned bordering fabric
- 1/8 to ¼ yard in solid contrasting trim fabric
- Scissors
- Measuring tape
- Needle
- Thread
- Ribbon, cording or beaded trim
- Pins
- Choose your fabrics. For your toweling, it’s a good idea to work with the primary color provider in your bathroom. This is usually the shower curtain. Pick a coordinating towel color that compliments the curtain and sets it off to good advantage. Your bordering fabric can also be of toweling material but it is suggested that you choose a fabric that lends extra texture contrast to the rug. Thick natural cotton with embroidered patterning is a good way to go, as is a rich upholstery fabric in a cross complimentary color to both your towel selection as well as your shower curtain. Make sure the any patterning is not so busy as to tire the eye. An excellent suggestion for your trim fabric is a simple natural silk that will not run or bleed. This is particularly true if you plan on making use of trimming notions such as coordinating ribbons or beaded trim chords. Silk will provide an excellent base for stitching such trims onto the mat.
- Wash all fabrics and dry to allow for shrinkage. Toweling should not shrink after washing, but it is a very good idea to make sure any other fabrics chosen are set for shrinkage by washing and drying in order to prevent any unwanted puckering in the matting later. Be certain that all fabrics are completely dry prior to use.
- Measure your toweling. Fold your toweling in half and pin along the edges. Measure out a distance of 20 inches by 28 inches and remove the excess with your scissors. Stitch neatly to seal and close the edge of the towel.
- Prepare and trim your border materials by cutting three 5-½ inch wide strips for the entire width of the material.
- Shear your trim materials into strips two inches wide for the entire length of the material and trim off the selvedge edges. Stitch the outside borders of the strips together along the short ends to make one very long strip. Repeat for contrasting trim and ribbons.
- Press the small strip in half along its length and sew into a wide strip. Sew the border onto the mat, starting on its short side and placing the right side of the border to the part of the mat that will be in contact with the floor. Start roughly four inches from the end of your strip and using a half-inch seam allowance, miter the corners of the border as you would when making a quilt.
- Stop stitching when you reach roughly six inches from where you first began and mark the ends of the border where they will overlap. Stitch those ends together before going back and continuing to sew your border onto the toweling of the mat.
- Repeat this process with your trimming fabric and finish off with any ribbons, chording or beaded trim chord you would like in order to accent your new rug to better match your bathroom.