Ragged Life Blog | Beautiful Twined Rug Designs

Earlier this month, we announced that for the first time ever, we’ll be running Twined Rag Rug Workshops here in Hertfordshire.

With that announcement, it seemed only fitting to get everyone’s creative juices flowing by sharing some of our favourite Twined Rug Designs from across the internet. We’re still relative newbies to the world of twining, so haven’t had the chance to make loads of rugs yet, which is why we’re so grateful to all the twiners below, who agreed to share their pieces. Do comment below to let all our contributors know how wonderful their twined rug designs are 🙂 Enjoy!

Simple Striped Rugs:

As a beginner, what I worked out pretty quickly is that the easiest twined rugs to make are striped ones. Striped twined rugs can be relatively simple to execute and look great (especially when made in a pretty colour combo). Here are some examples to help you get those design ideas flowing…

multicoloured twined rag rug with cat — @craftyladiesrugs

multicoloured patterned twined rag rug — @allornothingdropout

twined striped rag rug with plant — @allornothingdropout

striped black and white twined rag rug — Judi Brayman’s Rug

Colourful twined rug samplers made using mixed materials on a twining loom in the UK

mixed pinks and purples twined rag rug — Sara Peterson’s Rug

blue and grey striped twined rag rug — Sara Peterson’s Rug

More Complex Twined Rug Designs:

Once you’ve had a little practice and have come to understand the basic techniques, more experienced twiners can start to build in more complex patterns. The more I delve into the world of twining, the more I realise just how much you can play around…

cat with twined rag rugs multicoloured and blue — Laurie’s Rug (@threeoldkeys)

twined rag rug on loom with watermelon — Laurie’s Rug (@threeoldkeys)

grey twined rag rug with white pattern — @craftyladiesrugs

blue and purple patterned twined rag rug — @craftyladiesrugs

Multicoloured Patterned Rag Rug — Kathy Travis’ Rug

blue and white patterned twined rag rug — Kathy Travis’ Rug

twined red blue rag rug with shoes — Chelle McKinney’s Rug

Experimenting with different fabrics:

As with our traditional British techniques, twined rugs are generally created using scraps of fabric. Now I’m sure my fellow crafters will understand me when I say, ‘scrap fabric’ is a VERY broad term. And as with our traditional British rag rugs, twined rugs can be made using a whole variety of different fabrics and textures.

Well with the gift of time that lockdown gave us, I had the opportunity to do a bit of experimentation with materials. Unsurprisingly, my favourite fabric was definitely our Ragged Life Blanket Yarn, which twined up a treat.

I think especially being a beginner, I found the softness and quality of the blanket yarn helpful, as it doesn’t shed fibres like cottons do. Also, the self-patterning of the blanket yarn was a bonus!

Ragged Life 100% Wool Blanket yarn offcuts from British mills perfect strips for rag rug making — Unsurprisingly, our blanket yarn is a dream to twine with!

I also had a play around with more adventurous materials I picked up at the mill, including the woollen fringe below, macrame cord, chenille ribbons and even plastic bags!

Handmade woollen twined rug made using selvedges

What I’ve come to realise is that half the fun of rag rugging (in whatever form) is experimenting with different fabrics and textiles. Who doesn’t love playing around with fabric!

Well, the good news is that you can give twining a go by booking onto one of our twining workshops here. All our rug twining workshops are designed for complete beginners to learn all the basics and will take place at our Ragged Life Hertfordshire HQ near Hitchin.

Thanks so much for reading and we can’t wait to see your beautiful twined rug designs. Remember you can send us your work to be shared on our Ragged Life Facebook page: hello@raggedlife.com 😊

AND don’t forget you can learn more about twining and our new rug twining workshops in our recent blog post here.

If you’d like to be kept informed on all things rag rug then why not join our Rag Rug Community on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or join our fortnightly newsletter here.

OR CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT:

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Elspeth x

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Marlene

1 month ago

How long does it take to make one of the rugs

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Reply to Marlene

Hi Marlene, it does depend on how complex the design is, but I would say it takes minimum 20 hours to twine a rag rug. Cutting the strips takes time as well. Hope that helps!

Diana

8 months ago

Thank you! I needed photos like these to help me visualize the possibilities. Beautiful, inspiring work!

7 months ago

Reply to Diana

I’m very glad that you found them inspiring Diana!

Marilin

2 years ago

Hello, Thank you for your blog. Love all the photos!!! I was wondering if there is a way to contact Chelle McKinny. I am trying to make rugs similar to her rug that in the picture she is just starting. Looks brown and black. Would love to know the technique. I’m wondering if it is Tanniko.
Thanks again for your blog. I will be following

Reply to Marilin

Hi Marilin, apologies for the slow reply. Yes, that is definitely Tanniko. I would highly recommend joining one of the twining Facebook groups if you’re on there. It’s a great place for inspiration 🙂 Elspeth