Wednesday, February 10, 2010

A New Rug for the Living Room

Because the woven cotton rug was starting to really spit out strips of fabric. And the colors weren't pink and green, they were murk.

Then thinking about rugs, and how much they cost, led me to decide: I could make one myself. Surely the pioneer women did it.

I had a beautiful piece of upholstery-weight fabric in my stash, a pass-along from a friend whose father creates drapes for the wealthy in Montreal. All I had to do was face it with canvas. I sewed three sides together while it was inside out, turned it right side out and then slip-stitched one side closed. It really does seem like a rug now. Huh.


Now I'm thinking that I have made the living room over in red and yellow for the rest of the winter. My $10 gold armchair, my thrifted poppies, my forsythia forcings, and my new rug. Ignore the gray. Lucy spends most of her time in my newly-styled area looking appealing.


Because she thinks that bird is real.

14 comments:

Lucille said...

Could Frederick be co-ordinated with a bright ribbon from your stash perhaps?

Rie said...

Love the pops of color... perfect for a dreary winter!

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

It works out perfectly!

I use these colors all the time! It is so warm and welcoming!

Stephanie said...

I know you hear this all the time, but you have SUCH a pretty house. Thanks for the pictures.

Kate said...

The rug looks lovely! I did that with upholstery fabric in my dining room a few years ago but hubby kept tripping on it and the dining chairs wouldn't glide over it, but got caught up so it didn't last long. It's repurposed elsewhere, though.

Anonymous said...

The rug is gorgeous. It reminds me very much of these beautiful, but costly, Madeline Weinrib rugs:
http://www.madelineweinrib.com/ama/tibetan/Keri-Coral.html

- Jaimie

Lynne in NC said...

Anna,
Is your sewing machine a heavy duty one? or do you just use the appropriate needle?
I'd like to try this with my Bernina -- it's work horse but certainly don't want to damage it.
Peace.

Lisateresa said...

You're very resourceful. And, as for yellow - since we painted our living room yellow, the winter hasn't seemed anywhere near as dreary! At Christmas I focused on touches of red rather than green, and it was so cheerful looking, I'm continuing that look through the winter. You may end up liking yellow after a while!

Margo said...

Brilliant! I've been asking myself what the pioneer ladies and the Depression ladies would have done. I'm surprised how often I feel limited by the mall :)
And truly, rugs are very expensive and yours is lovely.

Unknown said...

Gorgeous...great idea! :) Hmm...going to dig around in my fabric...

The B's said...

Grey goes with everything. =)

Lissa said...

I agree with The B's... I think the grey looks marvelous with the gold chair!

amy b. said...

What weight canvas did you use? What a great idea. I'm needing a rug for our dinner area (we just refinished the wood floors) and wool rug, which appear to most durable, are also soooo expensive.

Anna said...

The canvas is just off the bolt at Hobby Lobby. It's quite heavy to carry around but is no challenge for my regular sewing machine. Do wash and dry at least twice to allow for shrinkage.

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