Burkhardt At Home, Made with Kim

As I continue learning “country skills” in the city, I am currently making braided rugs.

As with many common braids (hair braids, etc.), I am working with three strands for each rug.

I spoke recently with a friend whose grandmother used to make braided rugs.  He said his grandmother would work on her rugs for about an hour each night.  I’m finding the wisdom in that approach.  Each rug turns out best if made with consistent types of fabric – worn out jeans, retired shirts, etc. One may not have enough used fabric at any given time to complete a specific rug, so starting several rugs at a time – and working on them for an hour at a time – allows one to add material to each rug in stages as clothes wear out and are ready to become part of a braided rug.

I’m currently making several rugs, one each for fabrics of different thicknesses and textures.  I’ve loosely wound two of them into circles – shown here – to get approximate ideas of the current length for each.   Once there’s enough fabric, I will fully braid and stitch them into completed rugs.

I’m looking forward to seeing them in a few months when there’s enough fabric to finish them.  Woo hoo!