Tutorial: Crochet a rag rug from strips

Time for a new rag rug for my back door...the old one was made about 6+ years ago...its getting worn. Original rag rug picture. I'm just starting to collect the strips needed as I sort and organize my fabrics. A few days ago Trina asked me about the pattern to make one...you don't need a pattern. It's super simple as long as you know how to crochet.

 Start with 1/2" fabric strips. Selvage pieces work too. The longer the better so trim the selvage off your larger pieces of fabric before cutting quilt pieces. Save those till you have a jar full of strips.

I'm working with these just to show how to make a rug but this isn't anywhere near enough the amount you'll need.

There's two ways to hook your strips together.. The first way:

Cut slits in both ends of each strip.

Tuck a second strip into the of the first strip.

Then tuck the end of that second strip through slit of the same strip and gently tug until they knot together like below.

The second way which I prefer is to overlap the ends ....stitching back and forth ....add another to the other end...keep going. Chain stitching these is fast. Cut them apart when you're finished stitching all of them and roll into a ball.

To crochet the rug use a large hook. Mine is size K.

To get a small rug (44"x27" is what I'm planning on) chain about 40. I measured my chain...it's about 18". I figure if I add 12" all the way around I'll end up with approximately 24x42...plus or minus.

After chaining turn and single crochet (sc) back through all your first 40 or so chains. At the end chain put 3 or 4 or 5 sc to create the turn ....then SC back into those original 40 stitches. This is creating a large flat oval that you will just keep going around.

When you get to ends just add extra sc to keep it flat. Sometimes in the start I'm putting 2 or three into one. These added stitches just keep your rug from curling up. You'll have to use your judgement on this...curling up?...add...going straight?...just do sc. I continue going around and around until I have the size I want.

Above is the turn where I'm starting to add extra sc to keep it flat.

Here's where I did my figuring to see if I would get the right size. You could also do a circle.