From Messy Fabric Pile to Cozy Rug: Yes, You Can Do This

Why turn old fabric into rugs instead of tossing it?

If you’ve ever stood over a trash can holding a torn T‑shirt and thought, “This feels wrong,” you’re not imagining it. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that millions of tons of textiles end up in landfills every year, and a big chunk of that comes from households, not just fashion brands. Once there, those textiles sit, shed microfibers, and slowly break down in ways that aren’t exactly friendly to soil or water.

Now imagine that same fabric under your feet as a soft hallway runner or a bath mat instead of buried in a landfill. You’re keeping materials in use longer, reducing demand for new stuff, and saving money. And honestly? There’s something pretty satisfying about saying, “Oh this rug? I made it from old clothes.”

So let’s talk about how people are actually doing this at home—without industrial looms or a giant workshop.

How do you turn random scraps into something usable?

Before you start braiding or weaving, you need to tame the chaos. Most fabric scraps are all over the place: different sizes, shapes, and textures. That’s fine. The magic happens when you standardize them a bit.

Think of three simple steps:

• Sort by thickness and stretchiness (T‑shirts with T‑shirts, denim with denim, sheets with sheets).
• Cut into strips.
• Join those strips into longer “fabric yarn.”

You don’t have to be super precise, but try this as a starting point:

• For braided rugs: strips about 1–2 inches wide.
• For woven rugs: slightly thinner strips work well, around ¾–1 inch.
• For latch‑hook or knotted rugs: shorter pieces, 3–5 inches long.

A lot of people, like Maya from Portland, start with old T‑shirts because knit fabric doesn’t fray much. She cut her shirts into long spirals, tugged the strips so they curled in on themselves, and suddenly she had “yarn” without touching a sewing machine.

To join strips, you can either tie them with small knots (fast, but a bit bulky) or snip tiny slits in the ends and loop them through each other like a chain (flatter, neater, still beginner‑friendly).

Braided rugs: like friendship bracelets for your floor

If you’ve ever braided hair, you’re already halfway there. Braided rugs are a classic way to reuse fabric, and they’re very forgiving. Wobbly? A bit uneven? It just looks “charmingly handmade.”

How does a braided rug actually come together?

Imagine three long ropes of fabric strips. You braid them, just like hair. As you go, you keep adding more strips to the ends so the braid gets longer and longer. Then you coil that braid around itself like a cinnamon roll and stitch or glue it in place.

This is exactly what James, a dad in Ohio, did with his kids’ outgrown pajamas and worn-out flannel shirts. The soft, cozy fabrics turned into a round rug for the reading corner in their living room. He started with a small circle in the center and kept wrapping the braid around, stitching the edges together with a big needle and strong thread.

A few tips that make life easier:

• Start small. A 2–3 foot accent rug is much less intimidating than a giant living room piece.
• Keep the braid flat. Don’t pull too tight as you coil, or the rug will cup like a bowl.
• Use similar weights of fabric. Mixing heavy denim with super thin T‑shirt fabric can make the rug lumpy.

You can hand‑stitch the coils together or, if you’re not in the mood for hand sewing, tack sections together with a hot glue gun on the underside. It’s not traditional, but it works for low‑traffic areas.

Woven rugs: turning a DIY loom into your new favorite tool

Woven rugs look fancy, but the setup can be surprisingly low‑tech. People are making them on simple wooden frames, old picture frames, or even pieces of plywood with nails around the edges.

What does a homemade rug loom look like?

Picture a wooden frame, maybe 2 by 3 feet. Along the top and bottom edges, you hammer in nails or screw in eye hooks every half inch or so. Then you string strong yarn, twine, or even strips of old sheets up and down between the top and bottom. That’s your warp (the vertical threads). The fabric strips you weave across are your weft.

Amira, a college student in Texas, made a bath mat this way using an old canvas frame from an art class. She stretched cotton twine vertically and then wove in strips of towel and T‑shirt fabric horizontally, alternating colors. The result looked like something from a boutique, except it cost her nothing but time and a few blisters.

A few things that help your first woven rug not drive you completely nuts:

• Pull the strips snug, but not so tight that the sides pull inward.
• Pack the rows down as you go with your fingers or a fork so there aren’t big gaps.
• Mix textures—like smooth sheets with fluffy towels—for a nice underfoot feel.

Once you’re done weaving, you tie off the warp ends or fold and stitch them to the back. A quick non‑slip pad underneath, and you’ve got a hallway runner or kitchen mat that tells a whole story in stripes.

If you want to nerd out a bit on textiles and reuse, the EPA has a helpful overview of textile waste and recycling here: https://www.epa.gov/textiles

No‑sew, low‑stress rugs for the “I have zero patience” crowd

Not everyone wants to sit and sew or carefully weave for hours. Fair. There are ways to make rugs from scraps that are more about tying and looping than about precision.

Latch‑hook style with a grid base

One clever trick people use is starting with a rubber sink mat, a plastic grid, or a latch‑hook canvas. You just push short fabric strips through the holes and knot them.

Think of it as giving your floor a shag haircut.

Leo in New Jersey took a dollar‑store rubber mat, cut up three old bath towels into short strips, and spent a few evenings in front of the TV looping and knotting them through the holes. The result? A plush bath mat that dries quickly and can be tossed in the washer.

Because the base is already structured, you don’t have to worry about the rug stretching out of shape. You just fill in the grid area by area, almost like coloring in a pixel drawing.

Tied fringe rugs on a base fabric

Another approach is to start with a sturdy base—like an old canvas drop cloth or a worn‑through flat sheet folded double—and tie or stitch strips along marked lines.

You draw parallel lines across the base, then attach strips along those lines, either with simple knots through small slits or with big, quick stitches. It creates a fluffy, rag‑style rug that hides imperfections very well.

This style is especially forgiving if your scraps are short or weirdly shaped. If it can become a strip, it can become part of the rug.

What about old jeans, dress shirts, and other “awkward” fabrics?

Not all fabric scraps are soft, stretchy T‑shirts. Some are stiff, slippery, or just plain annoying. You can still use them—you just have to match them to the right style of rug.

• Denim works beautifully in braided or woven rugs. It’s tough and holds up in high‑traffic areas like entryways.
• Dress shirts and blouses are usually lighter. They’re great for woven rugs where you want more drape and less bulk.
• Sweatshirts and fleece make wonderfully squishy knotted or latch‑hook style rugs.

Sofia from Chicago turned her stack of old jeans into a rugged kitchen runner. She cut the legs into long strips, joined them into “yarn,” and wove them on a wooden frame. The color variations from different washes of denim gave it that effortless, patchwork look people pay a lot of money for.

If you’re dealing with fabrics that fray like crazy (looking at you, cheap woven cotton), you can:

• Cut wider strips so the frayed edges don’t eat the whole thing.
• Embrace the fray as a design feature, especially in rag‑style rugs.
• Use pinking shears if you have them to slow down the fraying.

How do you keep a DIY rug from sliding, shedding, or falling apart?

This is where a lot of people get nervous. The making part sounds fun, but will the rug actually survive real life?

There are a few simple habits that help:

• Add a non‑slip layer. A rug pad or non‑slip shelf liner underneath makes a big difference on hard floors.
• Reinforce stress points. On braided rugs, add extra stitches where the coils join. On woven rugs, secure the edges with a simple whipstitch.
• Wash gently. Smaller rugs can go in the machine on a gentle cycle inside a large mesh laundry bag. Bigger or heavier ones can be spot‑cleaned with mild soap and water.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has general safety guidance on rugs and slips here: https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Guides/home

For shedding, especially with towels or fleece, a quick once‑over with a lint roller (or just shaking it out outside) before bringing it indoors helps. Over time, shedding usually calms down as loose fibers work their way out.

Is this really “sustainable,” or just crafty clutter?

It’s a fair question. Making something just for the sake of making it doesn’t automatically help the planet. The difference comes from what you’re using and how you use the finished rug.

When you:

• Use fabric that would otherwise be thrown away or donated in unwearable condition,
• Replace a store‑bought rug that would have required new materials and energy to manufacture,
• And keep your DIY rug in use for years,

…you’re actually doing something that lines up nicely with what researchers call the waste hierarchy: reduce, reuse, then recycle.

If you’re curious about the bigger picture of textile waste and reuse, the EPA has more data and explanations here: https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data

And if you’re thinking, “But my scraps are tiny, this can’t matter,” remember: most change happens in small, repeated actions. One rug might not save the world, but it might change how you look at everything else you throw away.

FAQ: Questions people quietly Google while surrounded by fabric scraps

Can I mix different types of fabric in one rug?

Yes, you can, but it helps to group similar fabrics together in sections. For example, keep all the stretchy T‑shirt strips in one braid and all the denim in another. That way the rug doesn’t warp or bulge as much. Mixing textures can actually make the rug more interesting underfoot.

Do I need a sewing machine to make a rug from scraps?

No. Many braided, knotted, and latch‑hook style rugs can be made entirely by hand with just scissors and maybe a large needle. A sewing machine can speed up joining strips or reinforcing edges, but it’s not a requirement.

How do I clean a rug made from old clothes?

For small rugs, use a gentle machine wash in cold water and air‑dry flat. For larger or heavier rugs, vacuum gently or shake them out outside and spot‑clean with mild detergent. Always test a small area first, especially if you used fabrics that might bleed color.

What if my rug starts to curl or won’t lie flat?

Curling usually means something is too tight—either the braid, the stitching, or the weaving tension. You can sometimes fix it by gently stretching and steaming the rug, then letting it dry flat under some weight. If it’s a braided rug, you can unpick a section and restitch with a bit more slack.

Is it safe to use DIY fabric rugs in a nursery or kids’ room?

It can be, as long as you keep a few things in mind: make sure the rug has a non‑slip backing, secure any loose edges or long loops that little fingers could pull, and avoid fabrics treated with harsh chemicals. For general indoor environmental health considerations, the EPA has guidance on healthy homes here: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq

If you’re staring at that bag of scraps thinking, “Mine could never look like those pretty photos online,” remember: those perfect rugs probably had awkward, lumpy first attempts behind them too. Start with one small mat. Let it be imperfect. Let it be a learning piece.

And the next time you hold a torn shirt over the trash can, you might pause and think, “Bath mat. Hallway runner. Maybe even a cozy spot for the dog.” That’s when you know your brain has quietly shifted from “throw away” to “what can this become?”—and that’s where the real change starts.