The British woollen mills are having a bit of a tough time of it at the moment with the pandemic, which is one of the reasons why the last time I went up to my blanket yarn supplier in Yorkshire, I tried to take as much textile yarn off his hands as I possibly could (to help with their cash flow).

That means I’ve ended up with some much more unusual textile offcuts than usual (which is undoubtedly a good thing!) Some of these textiles are what is called “Chenille Yarn”. It isn’t wool like our usual blanket yarn (I think it’s mostly cotton), but the vibrant stitching makes it beautiful in a whole other way, and it rag rugs up a treat!

How is the chenille yarn used?

We’ve yet to try everything we can with the chenille yarn as it’s new to us too, but what we have worked out is that it looks great loopy rag rugged (particularly as a cushion!) We wouldn’t, however, recommend cutting it into smaller pieces for shaggy rag rugging, as it sheds when cut horizontally.

As the chenille yarn is a lighter weight than our classic woollen blanket yarn, it can be rag rugged full width, which means less cutting 😊 Equally, you can cut it up the middle lengthways if you find it easier.

Feeling creative? It could also be used for crochet, knitting, weaving etc… I’m currently twining a rag rug with it.

How much do I need?

In the loopy technique, one ball of chenille roughly covers one 40 x 40cm cushion face (our Ragged Life Cushion Hessian), so you’d need approx 4 balls to make a 100 x 60cm loopy rug (our Ragged Life Medium Rug Hessian). That’s only £30 for the fabric for a whole rug!

You can also mix the chenille in with other fabrics for a variety of textures in your rag rug creations.

How much is the chenille yarn?

As it’s a new product, for a limited time only, I’m charging £30 including P&P for four 250g balls (enough to make a medium sized rug in the loopy technique). You can buy it here.

What colours can I choose?

Below are just a few of the chenille colours we have available at the moment. We’ve also photographed a few balls together to give you an idea of how you could pair them.

Like a particular ball? Quote the name in the “Instructions to seller” box on the Ragged Life Shop when you check out 🙂 Equally, select a colour scheme in the drop down menu. So far, we have “blues”, “pinks & purple”, “mixed”, “pastels”, “Autumn” & “Forest” selections.

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Here’s where you can buy it again:

Buy Chenille Yarn here.

Thanks for reading guys. Let’s keep the British mills going!

Elspeth x