How To Make An Amish Knot Rag Rug, With A Fabric Yardage Chart
There is something deeply satisfying about making something useful and beautiful from fabric you already have. Amish knot rag rugs — sometimes called toothbrush rugs or Amish knot rugs — are one of those timeless fiber crafts that have been passed down through generations, quietly living on farmhouse floors and front porches across the country. They are sturdy, washable, endlessly customizable, and made entirely without a loom or a sewing machine. If you have a stash of cotton fabric, a large blunt needle or a toothbrush needle, and a little patience, you can make one too.
This tutorial will walk you through everything: how the stitch works, how to prepare your fabric strips, how to start and end your rug, how to shape it into an oval, and how much fabric you actually need to make a rug of the size you want. The fabric yardage chart at the end is one of the most requested things by crafters who are new to this technique, and I have done the math so you do not have to.
What Is An Amish Knot Rag Rug?
Before we get into the how, it helps to understand the what. An Amish knot rag rug is a handmade textile created by interlocking fabric loops through one another in a series of half hitches — essentially a knotted stitch that holds everything together without any sewing or weaving equipment. The finished fabric is thick, reversible, and surprisingly durable. It lays flat, which makes it wonderful for kitchen mats, bathroom rugs, entryway pieces, and even decorative wall hangings.
The technique is believed to have originated with Amish and Mennonite communities who needed to make use of every scrap of worn-out clothing, feed sacks, and cotton fabric. Nothing was wasted. The strips were torn or cut, joined end to end, and worked into rugs that lasted for decades. Modern crafters have embraced this method because it is low-tech, meditative, and produces heirloom-quality results from materials that might otherwise be discarded.
What You Will Need
Getting started does not require a trip to a specialty store. Most of what you need is probably already in your home.
Fabric. 100% cotton works best. Old sheets, cotton quilting fabric, t-shirts (though stretchy knit behaves differently), denim, and cotton flannel are all wonderful choices. Avoid polyester if you can, as it does not compress as nicely and tends to be slippery. Fabric can be new yardage from the store, remnants from past sewing projects, or cut-up clothing you no longer wear. For a scrappy rug, use whatever you have. For a more cohesive design, plan your colors in advance.
A toothbrush needle or large blunt needle. The traditional tool for this craft is called a toothbrush needle, which is literally a large blunt needle with a big eye — it looks a bit like an old toothbrush handle that has been hollowed out and sharpened to a point. You can buy them from online craft suppliers. A large tapestry needle or a homemade version cut from a flexible plastic container (like a yogurt lid) also works perfectly. You want something with a large eye that you can thread your fabric strip through.
Scissors. Sharp fabric scissors make clean cuts and will save your hands over the course of a long project.
A rotary cutter and mat (optional but helpful). If you are cutting new yardage, a rotary cutter makes fast, even strips. For old sheets and clothing, tearing your fabric along the grain actually creates a clean edge and saves time.
Pins or a binder clip. For holding your work in place at the beginning.
Preparing Your Fabric Strips
The width of your fabric strips determines how thick and textured your finished rug will be. Most crafters cut or tear strips between 1 and 1.5 inches wide. I prefer 1.25 inches for a medium-weight cotton — it creates a rug with good body without being too stiff to work with.
For woven cotton fabric, tearing works beautifully. Simply snip the selvage edge, then tear across the width of the fabric. You will get a perfectly straight strip along the grain every time, and the edges will soften naturally with washing.
For clothing, cut along seams to remove them, then cut strips parallel to the lengthwise grain or across the width of the piece, depending on what gives you the longest strip.
Joining your strips: There are two main ways to connect strips end to end. The first is a simple square knot tied at the ends, which you can then trim and tuck into the work as you go. The second is a sewn or folded diagonal join, which creates an almost invisible seam. For rustic rugs, the knotted join is perfectly charming. For a smoother look, the diagonal join is worth the extra moment.
Wind your joined strips into a loose ball as you go, or work from a bowl to keep everything from tangling.
How To Start Your Rug: Creating The Foundation Chain
The foundation of an Amish knot rug is a simple chain of interlocked loops. This chain will become the center spine of your oval rug. The longer you make this foundation chain, the longer the finished rug will be.
To understand the math: the finished rug will be roughly twice as wide as the foundation chain is long, plus the length of the chain. So if you want a rug that is approximately 24 inches by 36 inches, you will start with a foundation chain that is about 12 inches long (the difference between your two finished dimensions).
Step one: Make a slip knot. Take the end of your fabric strip and make a simple slip knot, leaving a tail of about six inches. This tail will be woven in later.
Step two: Begin your chain. Working similarly to a crochet chain, fold the strip back through the loop of your slip knot to create a new loop. Pull it snug but not tight. Continue this process — pulling a new loop of fabric through the previous loop — until your chain reaches your desired foundation length. This is a finger-knitting or crochet-style chain and takes just a few minutes once you get the rhythm.
Step three: Secure the last loop. When your chain is the right length, place a pin or binder clip through the last loop to hold it in place. Do not cut the strip — you will continue working from this end.
Working The Amish Knot Stitch
This is the heart of the technique, and once you do it a dozen times, your hands will remember it without any help from your brain.
Thread your working strip through the eye of your toothbrush needle. You will be working around the foundation chain in rounds, attaching each new loop to an existing loop from the previous row.
The basic stitch: Insert your needle through a loop in the previous row, from front to back. Pull a new loop of your working strip through that existing loop. The new loop should sit snugly on top of the old one. Move to the next loop in the previous row and repeat.
At the corners of the oval (the ends of your foundation chain), you will need to add extra stitches to help the rug lay flat. This is the key to oval shaping. At each curve, work two stitches into a single loop from the previous row. This increases the number of loops and allows the rug to turn the corner without puckering or cupping.
Increasing on turns: As your rug grows, you will need to continue increasing at the curves to keep the rug flat. A good rule of thumb is to add one extra stitch at each end of the oval for every few rows you work. If your rug starts to cup upward like a bowl, you need more increases. If it starts to ruffle and wave, you have increased too much. Lay your rug flat periodically to check its shape and adjust accordingly.
Changing Colors
One of the great joys of this craft is color play. Because you are working with strips joined end to end, you can change colors whenever you like — simply join a new strip to your working strip and continue. For a planned striped design, change colors at the beginning of each new round. For a scrappy random look, join whatever strip is next in your bowl and let the color sequence be a surprise.
Some crafters plan their rugs to echo traditional Amish quilting color palettes: deep navy, forest green, burgundy, black, and mustard gold. Others go bright and playful with every color of the rainbow. Both approaches produce spectacular rugs.
Finishing Your Rug
When your rug has reached the size you want, it is time to close off the final row and weave in all your ends.
To finish: Work the final stitch of your last row as usual, then instead of pulling a new loop through, pull the entire remaining tail of the strip through the last loop. This locks the end in place. Trim the tail to about three or four inches.
Weaving in ends: Thread each tail onto your needle and weave it through several loops in the back of the rug. Go in one direction for an inch or two, then double back to lock it. Trim any excess flush with the rug surface.
Washing: Amish knot rugs wash beautifully. Toss yours in the washing machine on a gentle cycle with cold water, then tumble dry on low or lay flat to dry. The cotton will soften with each washing and the rug will get better with age.
Shaping Variations
While the oval is the most traditional shape for an Amish knot rug, you are not limited to it. Here are a few variations worth exploring.
Round rug: Start with a very short foundation chain — just three or four loops — and increase evenly all the way around. Treat every other stitch as an increase point at first, then spread your increases out as the circle grows.
Rectangular rug: This is trickier because rectangular corners are angular rather than curved. Some crafters achieve this by using a more structured foundation and being very deliberate about where increases happen. It takes some experimentation but is very achievable.
Runner: A long, narrow oval makes a perfect hallway runner. Simply extend your foundation chain significantly relative to your desired width.
Fabric Yardage Chart
This is the question every new maker asks, and it is a fair one — there is nothing more frustrating than running out of fabric halfway through a project. The numbers below are based on 1.25-inch strips cut from medium-weight woven cotton fabric (like quilting cotton or a bed sheet). Actual yardage may vary slightly depending on how tightly you work your stitches and the thickness of your fabric.
Keep in mind that one yard of 44-inch-wide fabric cut into 1.25-inch strips yields approximately 30 to 33 strips, each about 44 inches long. Joined end to end, that is roughly 110 to 120 linear feet of working strip per yard of fabric.
Small Rug: Approximately 18 x 27 inches
Total fabric needed: 3 to 4 yards
Foundation chain length: approximately 9 inches
Good for: a bath mat, a doormat, a small accent piece
Medium Rug: Approximately 24 x 36 inches
Total fabric needed: 6 to 8 yards
Foundation chain length: approximately 12 inches
Good for: a kitchen mat in front of the sink, a bedside rug, a mud room piece
Large Rug: Approximately 30 x 48 inches
Total fabric needed: 10 to 13 yards
Foundation chain length: approximately 18 inches
Good for: an entryway rug, a living room accent rug, a farmhouse-style statement piece
Extra Large Rug: Approximately 36 x 60 inches
Total fabric needed: 15 to 19 yards
Foundation chain length: approximately 24 inches
Good for: a large seating area rug, a hallway runner, a statement floor covering
Runner: Approximately 24 x 72 inches
Total fabric needed: 14 to 17 yards
Foundation chain length: approximately 48 inches
Good for: a hallway, a galley kitchen, in front of a fireplace
A few notes on using this chart: if you are working with heavier fabric like denim or flannel, lean toward the higher end of each range and then add a small buffer. Lighter fabric like thin quilting cotton may fall on the lower end. If you are making a scrappy rug from clothing and fabric scraps, simply weigh out your fabric before you start — you want roughly one pound of prepped strips for every two square feet of finished rug.
When in doubt, cut and prepare more strips than you think you need. Excess strips can always be used for a smaller companion piece, or saved for a future project. Running out mid-project and needing to find a matching fabric is the only real frustration this craft can bring.
Tips For Making Your Best Rug
A few things I have learned through making many of these rugs that do not always make it into standard tutorials.
Work on a flat surface as often as possible. Lay your rug down every few rows to check that it is lying flat and the oval is keeping its shape. It is much easier to undo a few rows than to realize near the end that the whole piece has a cup or wave to it.
Keep your tension consistent. The most common mistake beginners make is working some stitches very tightly and others very loosely, which creates an uneven texture. Try to think of each stitch as having the same amount of give — snug but not strangled.
Label your colors if you are working with a planned design. It is easy to lose track of which row you are on in a multi-color project. A simple tally mark on a sticky note keeps you on track without any fancy tools.
Give yourself permission to be imperfect. Traditional Amish and Mennonite rugs were never meant to be perfectly uniform. Their beauty lies in the slight variations that show the hand of the maker. Your rug does not need to be machine-perfect — it just needs to be yours.
A Few Words On Sustainability
Part of what makes this craft so meaningful today is that it is inherently sustainable. You are transforming materials that might otherwise go to a landfill into something that will be used and cherished for years. Old cotton sheets, worn-out jeans, fabric remnants from other sewing projects, thrifted clothing that has seen better days — all of it has a second life here.
If you do not have enough fabric in your own stash to start a rug, thrift stores are an excellent source. Look for 100% cotton items in the colors you want: sheets, pillowcases, men’s dress shirts, lightweight curtains. You can usually find more than enough for a medium-sized rug for just a few dollars.
Final Thoughts
An Amish knot rag rug is one of those projects that starts slowly and then, somewhere around the third or fourth row, clicks into a rhythm that you will want to carry with you everywhere. It is the kind of craft you can do while watching a movie, sitting on a porch, or talking with friends. The tools are simple, the technique is forgiving, and the finished object is genuinely useful — something that will lie on a floor in your home for years, getting better with every washing.
Start small if you are new to it. A bath mat is the perfect first project because it is quick enough to finish in a weekend but large enough to teach you every skill you will need for larger pieces. Once you have made one, you will immediately want to make another — and you will probably already be eyeing your linen closet for the fabric.
Happy making.
