Crab Crawl Finish For A Hooked Rug

 

I've been busy hooking, punching, and doing a little applique!

 

I thought I would share with you how I am finishing this rug.  The actual hooked rug pattern is by Laurie of The Wooly Red Rug.   She has some really awesome rug patterns to chose from!

 

Now on to how I am binding this rug.... First you will want to  single crochet all around the rug making sure to add 3 to 4 single crochets in the corners  then came back over the top of the single crochet with a crab crawl stitch. 

 

I used an F size crochet hook and some of my hand dyed 4 ply wool yarn "warm browns" and it gives it a nice rope twist look on top! 

If you are wondering about the noise in the background :) Sloan was busy coloring!

 

Just another way to finish a hooked rug.

 

Happy Trails.....Ginger

A Quick Way to Bind A Hooked Rug

 

Here is another way I bind rugs.  I don't always serge around the edges but for this one I did.  You will want to leave about 1 1/2 inches all around the hooked piece to be folded in for binding.

Fold in up to the hooked row



Then fold over one more time.

 

Take a needle and thread and baste in place ..... it makes it a lot easier in the long run to do this step.

 



 

Now to make it simpler for your corners baste right up to them and leave them for last.

 

 

Fold in at the corner just as in the picture.

Then fold in one side

Then fold in the other side

With your needle and thread whip up the center

Lace it up with the needle and thread now repeat on each corner.

 

Now that all four corners are basted it is time to press.

Press it all around until it lies flat.

 

Now time to whip that rug.  I am using 4 ply wool yarn that I have hand dyed and a big eye tapestry needle.

 

You want to come up with the needle right next to the last hooked row.  You will hide your tail of your yarn as you whip the rug.

 

Now go down next to the last loop of the hooked row.

Come around with the yarn and right back down next to the last hooked row again.  Repeat over and over laying the yarn right next to each other.  DO NOT pull tight.  You just want it to lay nice and even.

Nice and even and not too tight :)

 

 

 

Now just keep whipping right down the row keeping your needle right next to the last hooked row.

 

This is how the back should look it is also right next to the last hooked row.

 

 



When your yarn gets short run the needle back into the whipped row and hide the tail.

Clip off any extra bit of yarn.

 



Start again with another piece of yarn hiding the tail in the whipping and continue on.

 



As you approach the corner go slow and take your time.  You may need to add 2 or 3 stitches in the same hole as you yarn over.  Just lay them side by side as you go around the corner.

 

 

This is how it should look.

 

After you have rounded the corner just keep on whipping side by side.

 

This is the back of the rug  showing the corner I just whipped.

 

 

 



Well that is it.....easy peasy isn't it!!!!!

 

I'm not going to finish this one just yet.  I need a few rugs to show how to bind when we are at Silver Dollar City in a couple of weeks.  So there will be plenty of time to finish this one up!

 

This lil' gal has been over visiting in the afternoons as Sloan is gone to visit his other Grandma before school begins for him next week.  She finally has a chance to play a game all to herself :)  How quickly they learn to make things work.  Don't you just love lil' fingers and toes!!!!!!

 

 

Happy Trails......Ginger

 

 

 

Binding Can BE.......

Relaxing once you figure it out.  Now let me be the first to say I have tried all kinds of binding techniques and I have a couple of favorite ways.  One is with binding tape which I have found to be one of the most easiest once I learned how to do it.

I admit I once had a pile of over 40 hooked pieces needing bound all because I wasn't sure how to finish them without getting discouraged.

So I just kept on hooking and let them pile up.

This method I am using on this oxford punched rug does not use binding tape.  I simply just trimmed the monks cloth folded it in and sewed a simple running stitch to hold it in place and rounded the corners a bit with needle and thread.

 

 

Here is the backside of the rug.  See how it adds the look of almost another row to the rug.

I have another rug I need to bind and I will try to take step by step photo's of how to do this.  Maybe it will give you another option to binding if you have never tried this.

 

I am binding this with the same wool yarn I hand~dyed for the punching.  It is a 4 ply wool yarn and it binds it very quickly :)

 

Enjoy your weekend and take a few minutes to slow down in this busy world we live in and just enjoy the simpler things of life!  You will be glad you did :)

 

Happy Trails......Ginger

Binding a Round Hooked Rug or Chairpad

It seems I have an endless supply of scrappy wool worms. So by just grabbing a bunch of random ones I made a hit and miss chairpad.



Once I finished hooking it and had pressed it with a lot of steam...I trimmed away the excess linen to about 1 inch all around.



Now I flipped it over and it's time to bind this one. Start by pinning on your twill tape and working it around. Fold in at an angle small little pleats and place the twill tape directly over the pleat and pin in place.






Now it's time to get your yarn and big eye needle out and start whipping it just like the post below except there won't be any corners.



Continue whipping around the entire piece and right before you reach the end fold back the twill tape just like in the previous post and place it on top of where you began and finish whipping. Notice the twill tape is a little full on top....well here is a new trick that I had never heard about until I took the class with Sally of Pine Island Primitives.



She told us about this but didn't have a rug to demo on...so today I gave it a try and wow it works! Once you are done with whipping the yarn take the top of the twill tape and pull one of the top threads....go slow it will begin to gather the twill tape. I broke a thread before I got it all around but on the 2nd thread I made it....remember go slow!



I sort of had to work the top of the twill tape and pull a little more. I did stop and pull from the other direction, too. I did not pull the thread completely out....It gently gathered the piece of twill tape. When I had it where I wanted it I just began sewing down the top of the tape with a needle and thread.



Look how nice and flat it lays...



Another view.....I love how easily it works to make it lay flat....Thanks to Sally for such a great tip.



For binding hooked pieces my favorite yarn to use is Cascade Yarns it's 100% Peruvian Highland Merino Wool the weight is 100 grams and comes in a tremendous variety of colors....it's also wonderful to double it and use it for rug punching.

Many thanks to all who have left such wonderful comments about the rug binding tutorial. I struggled for years on binding and now can honestly say I don't dread binding a rug.

Happy Trails.....Ginger

How I Bind A Hooked Rug

Well I've been known to have a pile of hooked rugs and mats to bind. I've tried binding them every which way and this is my favorite. With this method I whittled down a pile of 40 yes 40 rugs and mats last year! So gather up your wool yarn, a big eye needle,a few pins, and a sharp pair of scissors and let's get started.

First thing I did was trim up around my mat leaving about 1 inch of backing all around. I cut the corners at an angle to reduce the bulk.



You want to turn your piece over and lay it on a table...you want a flat surface to work on. Fold your backing over as shown in the picture above and pin your twill tape to the mat or rug. I only use about 3 or 4 pins and move them as I get each area bound. You DON'T want to start near a corner...but somewhere in the middle. I usually start in the middle on the bottom.






Since this is a small mat I went ahead and pinned just past the corner as you will see in a few photo's down. Now if you have ever bound a quilt this part will come easy....take that cut off corner and fold in as seen in the above photo. (As you can see I have farmgirl hands and could sure use a manicure)



Next you will fold in the bottom edge at an angle we are making a mitered corner.



Next fold in the side to the left...it doesn't have to be perfect but try to get them pretty close.



Now take your twill tape and lay it right on top of the backing that is mitered.



Fold the twill tape back on itself.



Now you will slightly turn it at an angle and start going up the side of the mat with the twill tape....see photo.



You will want to pin the corner right in the center of the turn.





Pin the twill tape in one more place just after the corner to hold it in place. It takes a bit of practice so don't worry you will get it!



It's time to grab that big~eye needle and the yarn and start binding.




To hide my yarn tail I run it through the backing and hide it on the inside. My needle comes out right beside where I hooked or oxford punched the last row.



I then put my needle throught the twill tape and then down through the backing coming up right at the edge of the last hooked row. It hides all the backing.



Continue whipping the yarn through the binding and backing with the yarn touching each other but not overlapping.




I'm running out of yarn...no fear just hide that tail right inside by putting the needle through the whipped area and pulling the yarn inside.



Unthread the needle and just cut that little yarn tail off close to where you whipped.



Load your needle again with yarn and hide that new beginning tail just like when we started with your needle coming up right beside the last whipped stitch. Your ready to go again :)



Oops there is a corner ahead (this use to be my worst area) but with this method it is pretty easy just take your time!


I whip right up to that folded corner then with the next stitch I catch into the folded area. Now I might put 3 stitches in that same hole at the top of the twill tape as I make my way around. Don't overdo it on the stitches...go slow and if you need to after the 3 stitches move them over by taking your needle and raking across them to fill the area. If you need another stitch to cover that corner put one in.
You want your stitches laying side by side not piled on top of each other.
With a little practice you will get it. I added a picture above and below for the corner.






Now do you feel like singing? You made it around the corner...hooray! Now let's continue up this side. Take those pins out from where you just bound your mat and continue putting them in the twill tape ahead.




We have made it around all 4 corners and are seeing the end in sight. Take the twill tape and cut it off leaving about an inch to fold back underneath itself and lay it on top of the beginning twill tape...pin it down to hold it.






Continue whipping your rug through all the thickness until you reach the very first whipped stitch. Run your needle and yarn through the whipped stitches and cut off the yarn.
Congratulations you have your rug whipped and we have just a little more finish work to go.




If your backing is still sticking out and not under your twill tape....simple grab a pair of scissors and fold back the twill tape and carefully cut away a portion of the monk's cloth or linen.










Now grab a sewing needle and some thread. Your ready to put the finishing touches on your mat or rug. Begin by sewing the twill tape together where they are joined.



Continue sewing through the twill tape at the top edge and into the hooked mat or rug.



I sew the corners up and then back down and contine sewing the twill tape down until I'm all the way back around.



Sometimes I add a fabric tag and there are times I just grab my sharpie and sign it right on the twill tape.



Now it's finished! Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial....It's the easiest way I have found to bind and I know there are a LOT of great methods for binding so give a few of them a try and see what works best for you.

Happy Trails...Ginger