How To Make A DIY Rag Rug Using Old Bedding

There is something deeply satisfying about turning something worn and forgotten into something beautiful and useful. A rag rug is one of the oldest forms of recycled craft, born out of necessity in homes where nothing was wasted. Bed sheets, duvet covers, old pillowcases — the kind of bedding that is too worn to donate but too sentimental or bulky to simply throw away — can become the raw material for a striking, durable floor covering that is entirely your own.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to make your own rag rug from old bedding. Whether you are a complete beginner or someone who has dabbled in crafts before, you will find this project accessible, rewarding, and surprisingly quick once you get into the rhythm of it. No loom required. No special equipment. Just fabric, a little preparation, and your hands.

Why Old Bedding Makes the Perfect Rag Rug Material

Before diving into the steps, it is worth understanding why bedding is such an ideal choice for this project — and it goes beyond the obvious fact that most of us have plenty of it lying around.

Bedding fabrics, particularly cotton sheets and duvet covers, are soft but tightly woven. They have usually been washed dozens of times, which means they are pre-shrunk and have already gone through their most significant fading and shrinkage. This makes them stable and predictable to work with. A rug made from old cotton sheets will hold its shape well and soften beautifully over time rather than becoming threadbare.

The weight of bedding fabric is also ideal. It is not so thin that the strips fall apart, and not so thick that they become difficult to braid or weave. A standard cotton bed sheet sits in a sweet spot that makes it manageable for hand-making a rug without straining your fingers or requiring heavy-duty tools.

Bedding also tends to come in generous pieces. A single king-size duvet cover, when cut into strips, can yield an extraordinary amount of material — often enough to make a medium-sized bath mat or a small bedroom rug on its own. Mixing several sets of old bedding gives you access to multiple colours and patterns, which opens up creative possibilities for striped, ombre, or multicoloured designs.

What You Will Need

Gathering your materials before you start will make the whole process smoother. Here is a full list of what to have on hand.

Old bedding in any combination: flat sheets, fitted sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers, or any cotton or cotton-blend fabric you have available. Avoid anything with a lot of synthetic content, as it tends to be slippery and harder to work with. Natural fibres like cotton and linen are ideal.

Sharp fabric scissors or a rotary cutter and cutting mat. Scissors will work perfectly well, but a rotary cutter makes slicing long strips of fabric significantly faster and more accurate.

A ruler or quilting ruler if you are using a rotary cutter. This helps keep your strips uniform.

A safety pin or large blunt needle, which will help you thread strips through each other in some techniques.

An optional crochet hook in a large size (12mm or larger) if you decide to go the crochet route, which is one of the easiest methods for beginners.

A non-slip rug mat or rug backing fabric if you want to add grip to the underside of your finished rug. This is particularly useful on hardwood or tiled floors.

A tape measure and some time. Making a rag rug is not a one-afternoon project for most people, but it is an extremely pleasant thing to work on in the evenings or over a weekend.

Step One: Wash and Sort Your Bedding

Even if your bedding is clean, give it one final wash before you begin. This removes any residual fabric softener or sizing that might make the strips slippery, and it ensures everything is at its maximum shrunk state before you cut. You do not want your rug to shrink unevenly after you have already made it.

Once everything is washed and dried, sort your bedding by colour family. Lay it all out somewhere you can see it together. This is one of the most enjoyable parts of the process, because it is here that your design starts to take shape. You might notice that three of your old sheet sets share a warm, earthy palette that would look beautiful braided together. Or you might decide to embrace a completely eclectic mix of colours for a rainbow effect.

Set aside any pieces that are stained in ways you want to avoid, or plan strategically around them. A large rust-coloured stain in the middle of a white sheet, for example, means you will cut around that section and use the clean portions.

Step Two: Cut Your Fabric Into Strips

This is the step that takes the most time, but it is also meditative once you find your stride. You will be cutting your bedding into long, continuous strips that will become the working material for your rug.

The width of your strips depends on the method you choose and the thickness of your fabric. For braided rugs, strips between one and two inches wide are typical. For crocheted or loomed rugs, strips around half an inch to one inch wide tend to work better.

To cut your strips efficiently, lay the fabric flat on a large surface. If you are using scissors, fold the fabric into manageable layers and cut across the width of the sheet, stopping just short of the selvage edge on each cut. This creates an accordion-like piece where all the strips are connected. You can then cut through the fold points in alternating directions to create one long continuous strip rather than many short individual ones. This technique is sometimes called a continuous strip cut, and it is a game-changer for efficiency.

If you are using a rotary cutter and mat, unfold the fabric and cut straight across in measured intervals. You will then need to join your strips end to end. To join fabric strips without a bulky knot, cut a small slit near each end and thread one strip through the other in a larks head or loop join. This creates a flat, almost invisible connection that will not catch or look awkward in the finished rug.

Wind your cut strips into loose balls as you go to keep them from tangling. Old bedding tends to yield a surprisingly large number of strips, so it is satisfying to watch your pile of balls grow as you work through the cutting stage.

Step Three: Choose Your Rug-Making Method

There are three main techniques for making a rag rug by hand, each with its own look and feel. Read through all three and decide which appeals to you most before you begin.

Braiding is the most traditional method and produces a classic oval or round rug with a structured, rope-like texture. You work with three strips at a time, braiding them together exactly as you would braid hair, then coiling the braid into a flat shape and stitching or lacing it together as you go. The result is dense, sturdy, and wonderfully tactile. Braided rugs have been made this way for centuries and they last extraordinarily well.

Crocheting is arguably the fastest and most satisfying method for people who already know how to crochet, but it is also easy enough to learn from scratch for this project. You work in a continuous chain, crocheting your fabric strips as you would yarn. The rug grows in a spiral from the centre outward, and you have a great deal of control over the size and shape. Crocheted rag rugs have a slightly more open, flexible texture than braided ones.

Weaving on a simple frame loom or a homemade cardboard loom gives you a flat, grid-like rug with a different aesthetic entirely — more graphic and geometric. This method requires a bit more setup but is excellent for rectangular rugs and allows you to plan patterns very precisely. You do not need a fancy loom; a rectangle of stiff cardboard or a simple wooden frame with nails will do the job.

Step Four: Start Your Rug

If you are braiding: Secure three strips together at the top with a safety pin attached to something fixed, like a door handle or the back of a chair. This keeps tension on your braid as you work. Begin braiding, keeping your tension firm and even. The tighter and more consistent your braid, the better your finished rug will look and the more durable it will be. When a strip runs out, join a new one using the loop technique described earlier.

Once your braid is long enough to begin forming the rug — generally twelve to eighteen inches for a small rug — fold it back on itself and begin coiling and lacing. Thread a length of strong thread or a thin strip of matching fabric through the loops of the braid on either side as you coil, pulling the sections firmly together. Do not sew through the surface; instead, lace between the loops of the braid so the join is hidden. Continue braiding and coiling, gradually spiralling outward, until the rug reaches your desired size.

If you are crocheting: Make a foundation chain of the length you want the centre of your rug to be. For a small oval rug, a chain of twenty to thirty stitches works well. Work in single crochet stitches all the way along the chain, then continue around the end and back along the other side, increasing at each end to keep the rug flat. Continue working in a spiral, adding increases as needed to prevent the edges from curling up. If your rug starts to ruffle, you have too many increases; if it cups upward, you need more. The fabric strips are thicker than yarn, so your hook needs to be large — a 12mm or 15mm hook is usually right for strips around one inch wide.

If you are weaving: Set up your loom with warp threads spaced evenly across the frame. These can be strong cotton string or even strips of your lightest-weight fabric. Load a blunt tapestry needle or a homemade shuttle with your fabric strip and weave it over and under the warp threads across the full width of the loom. Push each row firmly down against the previous one with your fingers or a fork. Alternate the over-under pattern on each row. Continue until the woven section fills the loom, then remove from the frame, knot the warp ends, and trim neatly.

Step Five: Finishing Your Rug

When your rug has reached the size and shape you want, it is time to finish the edges and secure any loose ends. How you do this depends on your method.

For a braided rug, taper your final braid by gradually narrowing it — trim one strip shorter, then another, so the braid ends in a thin point that you can tuck neatly under the last coil and stitch securely in place. Use a curved upholstery needle if you have one, as it makes stitching into thick layers much easier.

For a crocheted rug, cut your final strip leaving a tail of around six inches, pull it through the last loop to fasten off, then thread the tail through a blunt needle and weave it back through several stitches to hide it completely. Do this with any other loose ends throughout the rug.

For a woven rug, knot adjacent pairs of warp threads together tightly at each end, then trim the fringe to an even length. You can leave the fringe as a decorative element or tuck and sew it under for a cleaner look.

If you want to add a non-slip backing, cut a piece of rug gripper mat slightly smaller than your finished rug and whipstitch it to the underside around the edges. Alternatively, a few dots of fabric glue or silicone will add grip without the need for sewing.

Give your finished rug a final press with a slightly damp cloth and a warm iron if it is all cotton, which helps it lie flat and look polished.

Tips for Getting the Best Results

Consistency in strip width makes a significant difference to the final appearance. Take a little extra care during the cutting stage and your rug will look much more professional.

Mixing strip widths intentionally can also be beautiful — some rug makers use narrower strips in lighter fabrics and wider strips in heavier ones to compensate for the difference in bulk, resulting in a more even texture throughout.

Do not worry about matching strips perfectly at joins. In a finished braided or crocheted rug, joins are almost completely invisible, especially once the rug has been walked on and softened slightly.

Think about colour distribution from the start. If you want a striped effect in a braided rug, keep your three braiding strips each a single colour and simply swap colours one at a time as you braid. For a more blended look, mix colours within each group of three.

If your rug starts to curl at the edges during crocheting, lay it flat on a damp towel, pin it to shape, and let it dry. This technique, called blocking, is very effective on cotton.

Caring for Your Finished Rug

One of the great advantages of a rag rug made from old cotton bedding is that it is machine washable. Simply toss it in on a gentle or delicate cycle with cold water, and lay flat or hang to dry. Avoid the tumble dryer for braided rugs, as the heat and tumbling can loosen the stitching over time.

Shake your rug out regularly to remove dust and debris. If you have added a non-slip backing, check it occasionally as some rubber-based backings can degrade over several years with frequent washing.

With proper care, a well-made rag rug from quality cotton bedding will last for many years — which means you will have turned something that was heading for landfill into something that serves your home for a decade or more.

A Final Word

There is a quiet, countercultural joy in making a rag rug. In a world of fast furniture and disposable home decor, spending a few evenings turning your old bedding into something durable, personal, and genuinely beautiful feels like a small act of resistance. Every rug you make is slightly different from every other rug that has ever existed, because it is made from the particular fabric of your particular life.

Start with a small project — a bath mat or a doorstep rug — and let yourself get a feel for whichever technique you choose before committing to something larger. The skills build quickly, and most people find that by the time they finish their first rug, they are already planning the next one.