Coil + Crochet Scrap Fabric Rug DIY
There is something deeply satisfying about turning a pile of old fabric scraps into something beautiful and functional. If you have been hoarding fabric offcuts, worn-out clothing, or thrifted textiles and wondering what to do with them, this project is exactly what you have been waiting for. A coil and crochet scrap fabric rug is one of those makes that ticks every box — it is sustainable, budget-friendly, completely customizable, and the end result is a chunky, tactile rug that looks like it belongs in a slow-living, handmade home.
This tutorial will walk you through everything you need to know, from preparing your fabric strips to finishing off your rug with a neat, polished edge. Whether you are an experienced crocheter or someone who knows just the basics, this project is wonderfully forgiving and endlessly adaptable. Let’s get into it.
Why Make a Scrap Fabric Rug?
Before we dive into the how-to, let’s talk about the why. Rugs are expensive. A good quality, handmade-looking rug from a homewares store can easily set you back a couple hundred dollars. Yet the raw material for this project? You might already have it sitting in a bag in your craft room, or it could cost you almost nothing from an op shop.
Beyond the cost savings, there is the environmental angle. Textile waste is one of the most significant contributors to landfill globally. When you cut up old sheets, repurpose worn jeans, or use up fabric scraps from other sewing projects, you are keeping those materials out of the waste stream and giving them a second life that could last for years on your floor.
There is also the creative freedom that comes with this kind of project. Because you are working with whatever fabrics you have on hand, each rug you make will be completely one of a kind. You can lean into a color story — all neutrals, a rainbow, a specific palette that matches your room — or you can embrace a beautiful scrappy randomness and just use whatever comes to hand.
And finally, there is the meditative quality of the making itself. Cutting strips, joining them together, coiling and crocheting — it becomes a rhythm. It is the kind of handcraft that lets your mind wander while your hands stay busy, and the result is a piece made with your own time and care.
What Fabrics Work Best?
The short answer is: almost anything goes. But there are a few things worth knowing before you start cutting.
Cotton and linen fabrics are the most popular choice for fabric rugs because they are easy to cut into strips, they hold their shape well, and they tend to fray in a way that gives the finished rug a lovely soft, slightly fluffy texture. Old bed sheets and pillowcases are perfect for this. They come in large pieces, the fabric is usually quite soft from years of washing, and they cut cleanly.
Denim adds wonderful structure and durability to a rug. Old jeans are a brilliant material to use, especially for the inner coils where the stiffness helps maintain the rug’s shape. The downside is that denim can be harder on your hands when crocheting, so if you are doing a large project you might want to mix denim sections with softer fabrics.
Jersey and knit fabrics from old T-shirts and activewear behave slightly differently from woven fabrics because they stretch. This can actually be a lovely quality — it means your strips will naturally pull into a cord-like shape as you coil them. Jersey scraps create a particularly smooth, rounded coil. The edges tend not to fray, which is a bonus.
Wool and thicker fabrics like upholstery scraps can also work, but be aware that very thick materials can make the crocheting quite stiff. If you want to include heavier fabrics, try cutting them into narrower strips than you would with lighter-weight fabrics.
What to avoid: Very loosely woven fabrics that fall apart when cut, or fabrics with a lot of synthetic coating or backing (like some interfaced quilting fabrics) that do not have any give. Also be cautious with very dark fabrics that might bleed when the rug is eventually washed.
What You Will Need
Gathering your supplies before you start makes the whole process much smoother. Here is what you will need for this project:
A collection of fabric scraps — old sheets, T-shirts, clothing, or fabric offcuts from your stash. The more, the merrier. For a small bathroom or bedside rug around 40–50 cm in diameter, you will need roughly 500–700 grams of fabric strips. For a larger rug, plan for 1–2 kg or more.
A large crochet hook — somewhere between 10 mm and 15 mm is ideal for this kind of chunky work. You want a hook that is comfortable to hold and large enough that you are not forcing the fabric through tight stitches.
Sharp fabric scissors for cutting your strips. If you are cutting a large amount of fabric, a rotary cutter and self-healing mat will save your hands considerably.
A measuring tape or ruler, especially useful when cutting strips to a consistent width.
A sewing needle and thread or a sewing machine for joining strips together, if you prefer that method.
Optional but helpful: a yarn bowl or bag to hold your fabric ball as you crochet, so it does not roll away across the room.
Preparing Your Fabric Strips
This is the step that takes the most time, but it is also genuinely enjoyable and something you can do in front of a podcast or a favourite show.
Cutting your strips: Aim for strips that are roughly 3–4 cm wide. For jersey fabrics, you can go up to 4–5 cm because the stretch will pull the strip narrower as you work. For thicker fabrics like denim, go closer to 2–2.5 cm.
For woven fabrics like sheets and quilting cotton, the easiest method is to make a small snip at the selvage, then tear the fabric across the grain. Tearing creates a relatively clean line and is much faster than cutting. You will get a slightly frayed edge, which is perfectly fine and actually adds to the texture of the finished rug.
For non-fraying fabrics like jersey, cut with scissors or a rotary cutter, going around the garment in a spiral to create one long continuous strip.
Joining your strips: There are two common methods for joining fabric strips into one long continuous piece. The first is the simple overhand knot — just tie two strips together. This is quick and easy, but leaves a small lump in your working strip that you will occasionally need to work around.
The second method is the fabric join, sometimes called the slit join or the infinity join. To do this, fold one end of each strip back on itself and cut a small slit near the end. Thread one strip’s end through the other’s slit, then thread it back through its own slit and pull tight. This creates a flat, almost seamless join that works beautifully through the crocheted stitches without creating bumps.
The sewing machine join is also an option — fold two strip ends together with right sides facing and sew across the diagonal, then trim the seam allowance. This creates a very neat join and is worth the extra effort on a larger rug where you will have many joins to make.
Whichever method you choose, try to be consistent. Wind your joined strips into a ball as you go, ready to use.
The Coil and Crochet Technique Explained
Now for the real fun. The coil and crochet method involves coiling a fabric tube or rope and crocheting around it to hold it in place. The result looks like a traditional coiled basket or rug, but the crochet holds everything together without any sewing involved.
If you have made a crocheted rug before using single crochet or slip stitch, this is a slight variation. Instead of crocheting into stitches that sit flat, you are working around a coiled rope — the fabric strip is simultaneously both the thing being crocheted around and the working yarn.
Here is how it works step by step.
Starting the centre: Begin by coiling the end of your fabric strip into a tight flat circle, about the size of a 50-cent piece. Hold this coil flat in your non-dominant hand. Insert your hook through the centre of the coil, grab the working fabric strip, and pull up a loop. Chain one to secure it. Then work single crochet stitches all around the outside of the coil, securing it together. The number of stitches you work into that first centre will depend on the size of your coil — aim for around 6–8 stitches to start.
Building the spiral: As with any crocheted circle, you need to increase regularly to keep the work flat. After that initial centre round, work 2 single crochet stitches into each stitch of the previous round. In the following rounds, increase every second or third stitch. The exact increase pattern is flexible — just flatten the piece on a table regularly to check that it is lying flat and not cupping upward (too few increases) or ruffling and waving (too many).
The key difference with the coil method is that as you work around, you are also coiling the fabric strip around the previous round and crocheting through both the new coil and the existing work simultaneously. This is what creates that dense, layered look. Use your hook to push through the previous coil and then scoop up the working strip.
As you increase the diameter of your rug, your increases will become more spread out. Keep the golden rule in mind: flat means your increases are working perfectly.
Changing colours or fabrics: One of the loveliest things about this project is watching the colour change as you use up different fabric scraps. When you reach the end of one strip, simply join on a new one using your preferred method and keep going. If you want a deliberate colour change, time your join to coincide with a natural breaking point — though with a scrappy rug, spontaneous changes are part of the charm.
Tips for Keeping Your Rug Flat
A flat rug is a happy rug, and keeping yours from curling or cupping is mostly a matter of attention and a few easy adjustments.
Check your work regularly by placing it on a flat surface and seeing if it lies without assistance. If the centre pops up, you need more increases in the next round. If the edges are wavy and ruffled, you have too many increases — try working with fewer for the next round or two.
The tension with which you pull your stitches also matters. Because fabric strips are not uniform the way yarn is, your tension will naturally vary. Try to keep a consistent rhythm without yanking the strip through too tightly.
If you end up with a slight curl after finishing, a good press with a damp cloth and a warm iron can do wonders, especially for cotton fabrics. For thicker or more textured rugs, placing the finished piece under some heavy books overnight can also help it relax flat.
How to Finish Off Your Rug
When your rug has reached your desired size, it is time to finish it off cleanly.
Work a slip stitch into the next stitch rather than a single crochet to reduce the height of your final stitch slightly. Then cut your fabric strip, leaving a tail of about 15–20 cm. Thread this tail onto a large tapestry or yarn needle and weave it back through the stitches on the underside of the rug for several inches to secure it. Trim the excess.
If you want a particularly polished edge, you can work one final round of slip stitches along the outer edge before finishing off. This gives the outer rim a neat, defined look.
Size and Shape Variations
While the round rug is the classic form for this technique, you can absolutely experiment with other shapes. An oval rug starts with a short foundation chain instead of a centre coil — work stitches along both sides of the chain, then increase at each end as you spiral outward, and you will end up with an oval shape perfect for hallways or in front of a kitchen sink.
For a rectangular rug, work a longer foundation chain and keep your increases more structured at each corner. Rectangular rugs require a bit more attention to keep the corners sharp, but they are very achievable with practice.
You can also play with the overall thickness and scale of the project. A very thin, tightly coiled rug made from lightweight cotton makes a pretty table mat or placemat. A thick, chunky version using denim and heavy cotton becomes a statement bath mat.
Caring for Your Finished Rug
The great thing about a fabric rug is that it is fully washable — in fact, it will often get softer and more beautiful with washing.
Wash on a gentle cycle in cold or warm water. Avoid very hot water, especially if you have used fabrics of different dye compositions that might bleed. A mesh laundry bag is a good idea to protect the rug during the spin cycle.
Dry flat if possible, or hang over a rack. Tumble drying on a low heat is fine for cotton-dominant rugs, though very thick rugs may take a while to dry through completely. Avoid wringing or twisting the rug, as this can distort its shape while wet.
Making It Your Own
This is where the real joy of handmade comes in. Your rug does not need to look like anyone else’s. You could work with a strict colour palette of all white and natural linens for a Scandinavian-inspired look. You could go full scrappy-rainbow with every colour you have on hand. You could feature one bold, beautiful fabric as the dominant material and use neutrals as the background. You could incorporate strips of vintage sari silk or lace for something really special.
Think about the room the rug will live in. A child’s bedroom rug might be bright and cheerful, using old T-shirts in every colour. A bathroom rug might be all soft blues and whites using old towels and sheets. A kitchen mat might be hardy denim and thick cotton that can handle heavy foot traffic and frequent washing.
The other beautiful thing about this technique is that it is infinitely scalable. Start small with a table mat to get the hang of the stitch pattern, then graduate to a larger floor rug. Once you have the rhythm, you will find yourself looking at every old piece of fabric with new eyes — wondering what kind of rug it might become.
A Few Final Thoughts
Handmade rugs have been part of domestic life across cultures for centuries — from braided rag rugs to woven kilims to knotted pile rugs. The tradition of using up every scrap of textile rather than letting it go to waste is one of the oldest and most beautiful forms of sustainability there is. When you make a coil and crochet scrap fabric rug, you are participating in that long history while creating something uniquely yours.
Take your time with it. Make it while listening to music or catching up with a friend. Put it down when your hands need a rest. Come back to it. The finished rug will carry all of those hours of making in its texture and weight, and every time someone steps on it or notices it across the room, you will feel the particular quiet pride of having made something from nothing — or near enough to nothing.
Happy making.
