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I braided a rug!


Deb G

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It looks a lot better in person, but I just had to share. When I placed it on the floor in my Glencroft living room, it just blew me away, it looks so real! I put a couple of images in my gallery. The color is really a nice combination of earthtone browns, no matter what the image looks like.

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Deb, it looks great! Do you have it glued to a backing? I've been thinking of braiding some rugs for the White Orchid. I can just see the little girl elf braiding them. :banana:

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Deb, it looks great! Do you have it glued to a backing? I've been thinking of braiding some rugs for the White Orchid. I can just see the little girl elf braiding them. :banana:
I used an iron on bonding fabric, the kind you would use to bond an applique to a shirt, then I bonded a piece of muslin to the back. Very flexible. It's my first attempt, and I can't wait to try it again. I still can't get over how realistic it looks in the house!
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I love it. Oval rugs are my favorite. I only own 1. Fantastic job. What material is it made out of? Can you give us a tut? I'd love to try it!
Thanks! It's surprisingly easy to do, really. And doing a tutorial would be fun! I'm planning to make another one for the bedroom, and I could take pictures of the steps. The material is DMC Pearl Cotton Variations embroidery floss wound onto three bobbins and braided into about a 7-yard length. You put double-sided tape on an 8x10 piece of glass ( I used one with polished edges from a picture frame) and press the braid onto the glass over an oval patten. I keep checking the underside through the glass since that will end up being the top of the rug, and repositioning the braid as needed. When it's complete, you are supposed to just iron on a trimmed patch to keep it together, then pull it gently off the glass when it's cool. I decided to use iron on bonding adhesive instead. It bonds at low temperatures and I was able to use a thin muslin backing for flexibility. What I learned the hard way is to trim the muslin first so it's just inside the perimiter of the rug. I spent way too much time on this first try with my embroidery scissors trimming edges!
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I went with the chainstitch on felt only because with my osteoarthritis it kills my hands to plait in 1:12 scale! Your rug turned out perfect!

Thank you! You know, I began to feel some definite twinges in my left hand about halfway through, and I suspected it might be the, ah, unyouthfulness of my bones. It's really the first time I've noticed it. :yikes: I might just give the chain stitch a try!

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Rug looks great!

I made a tut with slightly different directions based on a full sized rug several months ago.

Really? I would really like to see your tut. Is it in your gallery? I looked just now but didn't see it. I did find your Glencroft bash! VERY interesting! Since this is my first dollhouse, I'm not ready for "branching out on my own", but it's a neat concept!
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Really? I would really like to see your tut. Is it in your gallery? I looked just now but didn't see it. I did find your Glencroft bash! VERY interesting! Since this is my first dollhouse, I'm not ready for "branching out on my own", but it's a neat concept!

It's under 'Forum Tutorial Links', also in my blog if I remember correctly.

Glencroft is coming along slowly because I also have a rehab on the go as well as a Buttercup that I'm building. The Buttercup will probably be finished first as it's soon there, but has no furnishings yet. If you read Casey's blog, I think that I must be like her a bit - the attention span of a 6 year old! I work on a house for a bit, then do the next step in uphostering a chair, then work on my wicker-look projects, then it's off to something else. I'm trying my best to not take out the polyclay yet, but it is HARD! I want to play with it but have to finish up a few things first.

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It's under 'Forum Tutorial Links', also in my blog if I remember correctly.

Glencroft is coming along slowly because I also have a rehab on the go as well as a Buttercup that I'm building. The Buttercup will probably be finished first as it's soon there, but has no furnishings yet. If you read Casey's blog, I think that I must be like her a bit - the attention span of a 6 year old! I work on a house for a bit, then do the next step in uphostering a chair, then work on my wicker-look projects, then it's off to something else. I'm trying my best to not take out the polyclay yet, but it is HARD! I want to play with it but have to finish up a few things first.

Oh, upholstering a chair! I've been hunting all over the place for a tut on that. I've got an idea how to do a couch and chair using a basswood frame and beer-cozy foam for cushions (can't find good dense quarter inch foam ANYWHERE so I picked up a beer can cozy made of the stuff!), but I haven't found a tut that does it the way I want. I want loose cushions and rounded arms, traditional style. Do you do that too?

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Deb, what about craft foam? And there's no rule that says you cannot split pieces of batting and upholster with that.

You know how when you get an image in your head, nothing else will do? I have a picture of what I want the finished product to look like, and I'm trying (with zero experience) to find the materials that will accomplish that end. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what you mean by craft foam. It may be exactly what I'm looking for but I don't know the right term to use when I'm at the craft stores asking for it. I've found all kinds of foam sheets, but they're either paper thin, or they have thick pieces but they're already shaped into stars or door hangers or what not. I'm thinking I need plain white quarter inch thick dense foam to make sofa cushions (and window seats), but maybe that's not the best material. Do you know the 'beer can cozy' thing I'm talking about? That's the kind of foam I think I want. I'm open to any and all suggestions!

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