Q&A with Braid-In Rag Rug Maker Ilka White

I’ve been an admirer of Ilka’s beautiful braid-in rag rugs for many years now. In fact, she was one of the people who first inspired me to have a go! As such, it’s well overdue that we do a textile artist Q&A with the lady herself! We don’t have a Ragged Life braid-in rag rug …

My Unforgettable Trip to Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village

Opportunity Calls! As a rag rug maker and travel enthusiast, I’ve always been curious about the difference between rug making in the UK and other countries. That curiosity was one of the inspirations behind my second book “Rag Rug Techniques for Beginners”. I wanted an excuse to travel the world hunting down obscure rug making …

My Rug Hooking Trip to the USA

Wow, what can I say… it has been an amazing last couple of weeks. At the beginning of August 2024, I had the absolute privilege of heading over to the USA in the name of spreading British rag rug cheer. What on earth does that mean you may well ask! Well, the amazing guys at …

Q&A with Natural Dye Expert Zoe Burt

Yay, it’s not long now before we have the honour of hosting expert natural dyer Zoe Burt at our Ragged Life HQ in Hertfordshire. Zoe will be running a natural dyeing workshop for us 10:00-16:00 on Saturday 14th September 2024, and personally I can’t wait to get stuck in. However, for those of you who can’t …

5 Projects from Blanket Selvedge Strips

Throughout September, four full time crafters and I each worked on a project using six balls of woollen blanket yarn (blanket selvedge strips rescued from the Yorkshire mills). We wanted to generate some fresh ideas for what could be made using this beautiful waste material and encourage people to think outside the box. The Knitting and Stitching Show …

Making a Braid-in Rag Rug: Part 1

If you’re a subscriber to the Ragged Life Inspiration Newsletter then you’ve probably heard me rabbiting on about the September Sustainability Challenge that I’m taking part in in 2023. If you haven’t then you can read a bit more about it here. Long story short, me and four other full-time crafters are each making something …

Q&A with Lucy Rowan – Maker and Weaver

Those of you who follow Ragged Life on Instagram, Facebook or subscribe to our Newsletter may have seen that we are soon starting our September Sustainability Challenge. You can read more about it here, but to briefly summarise, we’ve asked four full time crafters to join us in a friendly competition to each turn six …

Elspeth’s Sustainable September Project Begins…

This September, four very talented full time crafters (@jenerates @cocoonandme @afrayedupcycling and @peasandneedles) and I will take part in a September Sustainability Challenge where we are each making a project of our choice from six balls of blanket edging saved from landfill from the Yorkshire mills. You can read a bit more about the challenge …

September Sustainability Challenge

For the month of September, I have gathered together a talented group of five full-time textile designer / makers for a friendly “Sustainability Challenge”. As part of the challenge, we will all have a month to make something spectacular, but sustainable from six balls of blanket yarn (offcuts from the woollen mills in Yorkshire). I …

My Handmade Wedding Table Plan

In May of this year, I’ll be heading to the lovely town of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy to celebrate getting married to my lovely partner in crime Christian. As a full time crafter, I’m kind of expected to make lots of pretty things for the wedding, but I must admit that up until Christmas, I …