Okay, so I ventured over to Hobby Lobby on Monday night and spent a good amount of time choosing fabrics and purchasing a rag rug latch hook canvas backing (I am so crafty can’t you tell?). To be honest, I probably spent as much time navigating my way through Hobby Lobby as I did actually playing with cloth. That place is HUGE. It was slightly overwhelming when I walked through the doors but overall it’s pretty bad ass. Like if Joann’s and Michael’s had a baby. And that baby was the size of a two year-old. You get the picture.
I met a lovely older lady who helped me narrow down fabric choices and offered some input on what colors went together, what “popped,” and what didn’t. Finally decided on three shades of pink, a grey, and a lavender:
The rug canvas I purchased is 54″ x 60″. The only other size they had was 36″ x 30″, but I think that would be too small for what I’m going for. I started small and purchased a yard of each color for now. I figure I’ll see how much that gets me and I can go from there. Between the canvas and the fabrics (at 30% off!), I got out of there for around $40.
Next step: cuttin’ strips. The various tutorials I found suggested 1″ wide and anywhere from 4″-6″ long. Mine ended up about 1.5″ wide and so far range from 4.5-6″ long. I’m okay with it, I think as long as they’re all fairly equal it should turn out alright. And part of the appeal for me is that the strips aren’t exactly perfect. At least that’s what I tell myself to keep from freaking out and starting over. Okay. Here are the long strips, before I cut them into chunks. Took me a solid 2 hours to do this (pathetic or awesome? I have no idea. All I know is I am developing some sort of blood blister/callous on my right hand but whatever. How first world problems of me.)
This was all done Monday night. Last night I finished cutting up the last of the smaller strips then stared at my pile trying to figure out what the hell kind of pattern to make. Then I laid out the rug for inspiration. Actually that is a lie. I laid out the rug to see how big it truly was and almost shit myself. Much bigger in person than what I was picturing in my head, but it is the perfect size for Baby Girl’s room. You can see I had a lot of help:
I finally decided on just doing one of each color after another, row after row, after row. I think that is the best way to get the “messy” effect I am going for, plus that way I don’t have to worry about royally fucking up some awesome design. It can just be a colorful thing of fluff. I took me about an hour to get through one row. I figure at this rate, I should be done by Baby Girl’s 2nd birthday. However long it takes, though, I am happy to be doing it. I am in love with this project already. It’s a nice mindless task to do while watching a movie or catching up on “The Voice” (can you guess what we did last night?). So here we are, one row in:
I totally love it! I can’t wait to see it all done! I think it is going to look fantastic in her room, too. And Tosha seems to enjoy laying on it with her bone in the meantime.
If you want to attempt this on your own, here’s one of the tutorials I referenced before diving in head first:
http://www.our-everyday-art.com/2012/09/diy-handmade-rag-rug-tutorial.html
Little Baby Wall 