Rag Rug Basket Extraordinaire!

Another one of my favorite things to make is Rag Rugs. Maybe because it is sooooo easy and involves Fabric. I LOVE FABRIC! I can sit with my fabric stash and sort it into different sections for future projects for hours and not even know time has passed… maybe I should leave my fabric obsession at that, for you may start to think that I need a fabric intervention. Anyhoo… RAG RUGS! So my fascination with these started when I stumbled across beautiful rag rugs on Etsy (such as the beautiful rugs found at Emily Kircher -Recycling Artist). I thought “I NEED TO MAKE THESE!!” So I looked up a Rag Rug tutorial on YouTube (I used Rag Rug 101 by Molly) and I was introduced to the amazing new world of creating RAG RUGS! I have not looked back! I do not have many pictures of my rag rugs at this exact time but I will take some and upload them here soon. What I do have pictures of is my new hybrid creation of a rag rug basket.

I was inspired to make this rag rug basket from a crocheting blogger who posted a tutorial called the Ombre Basket Pattern. I decided to use ripped up sheets that I bought from Value Village instead of yarn and used a different crochet pattern. The one and only crochet pattern I currently know how to do.

This is a close up image of my cute little crochets. This pattern creates little holes in the final product so you can kind out see what is in the basket if you look really close. So don’t look close! It does however look great from a normal distance.

I used the tutorial from my inspiration photo to create the change from bottom of the basket to the sides. It took me a couple of tries to make the top of my crocheting to switch sides from the top of the bottom of the basket to the outside of the walls of the basket. If that makes any sense. If you attempt to make one for yourself you will get what I am trying to say. Anyways… the top and the bottom of this crochet pattern look different so it matters which way is up!

When my basket was the size that made me happy I made these cute handles using the tutorial from my inspiration. They are a lot droopier then I would have liked. Next time I would make the handle smaller so that they are more sturdy. I could have just unraveled it and started the handles again, because crocheting is very forgiving! However, I still liked the final look on this basket a lot so I kept it.

So that’s it! Now you know my rag rug basket experience. This took me one whole day to make. What I would like to improve would be the sturdiness of the basket, because it will not stand up on its own. It is full of more sheets for more projects :). I was trying to think of a way to make it more solid for next time. I was thinking of putting a strong wire in it like the laundry baskets that pop up or collapse for easy storage. I did make a smaller one which I gave to a friend of mine as a wedding gift, which stood up on its own (I now wish I had took a picture).

I hope you like my crafty creations and create a Rag Rug Basket for yourself. They get a lot of compliments and are super cute! Have fun creating!

XO JCL

P.S. Check out more of my rag rugs here!