Welcome back to the May Arts Blog! I’m always trying to find new ways to use our beautiful ribbons. Years ago I made a few latch hook rugs. The technique was easy and results were beautiful. While doing some web surfing I happened on some rugs made with strips from T-shirts and a light bulb went off….wonder if I can do that with ribbon?
The answer is a resounding, “YES” and the results are beautiful! The pictures just don’t do it justice. The overall size of this rug is approximately 28 x 18 which is a nice size for a bathroom or beside the bed.
It took a bit of trial and error to figure out what width and ribbon fabric was best and how much to use per row. I tried May Arts Double faced silk in a wide width first because I love the silky sheen and elegance and I thought I could use less ribbon per row; however, the ends frayed more than was practical for a rug that was going to be walked on and getting the ribbon into the holes was nearly impossible.
I ended up using May Arts SX 3/8" Grosgrain. It comes in 18 fabulous colors so you can match any decor, it’s easy to work with and when cut at an angle, there’s almost no fraying. First, I had to determine how long my strips needed to be. I found 6" strips gave me a nice fluffy rug and enough length to work with. Stacking the ribbon and using a rotary cutter was the quickest, most efficient way to cut the strips.
I wanted my rug to be thick and luxurious, so I initially began by latching every hole. After a few rows, I realized the rug would be much too thick so I ended up doing one full row then in the next row, I latched 5, skipped 2-3, latched 5 across the row. I continued with that pattern for the entire rug.
Once the entire rug was hooked, I hand bound the edges with rug binding. I hope you’ll give it a try. It’s a perfect project for long cold winter evenings by the fire and with the variety of May Arts Grosgrain ribbon colors, you may want to make one for every room!
Thanks for joining us on the May Arts Blog! Be sure to check back daily for more ribbon inspiration!
If you’re new to latch hooking, you can find an excellent tutorial here.
Blog post by: Charlene Driggs
May Arts Ribbon Used:
3/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
This is a beautiful rug and a really useful idea. Had to pin this one.
Can you tell me approximately how much ribbon was used?
Hi Mary Anne, I used approximately 300 yards of ribbon, or 6 rolls of May Arts 3/8" grosgrain. It's very economical, didn't fray and was really easy to latch. If you give it a try, be sure to send us a picture!
Wow–very creative use of ribbon–looks great.
wow that is so cool…totally love it
I had a rug that looked a lot like this, made out of strips of animal hide (cowhide?). I thought it was a really cool rug at first. Unfortunately, impossible to clean (one of my kids upchucked on it!) and pieces constantly fell off. This seems much sturdier and easier to clean, and the one you made is almost the same colors!
This is truly awesome!!
Beautiful! I used to do a lot of latch hooking, but never would have thought to try it with ribbon. Great idea!
It's too pretty to walk on!!!!! Great job!
Charlene, this is beautiful! It's great to see a past fun craft revived in an updated interesting way. This is a great idea and looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Great idea Charlene! Looks cool!
Wow that's so sharp thanks for letting us know how much you used too
Cooll, looks good. I like the colours you have used.