Handmade Rug - A Tutorial

Ive been after a patchwork rug for a while and to get one large enough for my lounge it would easily cost £100+ and to be honest i really didn't want to spend that so i went about seeing if i could make my own with carpet samples.

Tools:

Hot Glue gun
Scissors

Materials:

Carpet samples (amount depends on size of rug you are making) (these can be ordered from John Lewis and all leading carpet sellers)
Hessian or similar.

I cut the hessian to the size i wanted, this was just a trial run to see how it looked, if my idea worked and if anything needed taking into account when making it.

I took as many swatches as i need to fit the width of hessian in all the same size, as you'll find they all come in different depths and sizes and began hot gluing them to the hessian.

I did the next row in a different size swatch, for me this didn't really work and when i make my full size one i want to make sure that the samples are all the same type of carpet and all the same size so you don't feel the difference in the carpet when you step on it.

I continued with this until i had filled the hessian. I managed to pull it slightly out of shape when i was gluing so its slightly wonky on my finished piece.

I also glued each piece to each other as well as the hessian or it moves under foot, this keeps each piece in place.

Its found its home in front of the cooker, stops my toes getting cold when I'm cooking. It looks great but going forward i know what needs to be changed, also id place them an inch inside to allow for a binding round the edge on the rug as they are now, after using for a week and being hoovered, have began to frey around the raw edges.

Hope you give this a go too even if its just for an entrance mat, hessian is just a few pounds a meter and the carpet samples are completely free just don't be as impatient as i was for giving it a go because it takes a lot more than you expect to make one a decent room size. * Goes back to hoarding carpet samples*

L xx

NEW Pretties

Got some shiny new pics to share with all of you. As always items are available straight away when ordered direct through me but if you dont mind waiting a few weeks then they will be available online from our shiny new shop :)

Our first limited edition collection is these tiny wooden hand painted rabbit jewellery. This one is a lovely mossy green with pink spots and is a ring

This little beauty is white with green spots and is a lepal pin/brooch.

And these gorgeous white shaded rabbits are cute earring studs, these are also available in pink. These are a MUST for any rabbit fan and are spot on with the Woodland theme thats doing the rounds with my own twist!

These gorgeous little handmade clay heart buttons are from Cariad Clay, who have a gorgeous little Etsy shop. I have had these for some time now and ive never been happy with anything ive made with them until now!  A gorgeous artisan take on the tradition charm bracelet brings this beautiful silver plated twist chain with a row of 7 hearts.

This is another charm bracelet as above with a different lay out. With this you could fill the space with any charms of your choice or with pearls with a new twist on my multi pearl bracelets.

I bought these in a charity shop  a few weeks ago and fell in love! the style and shape are just amazing but from age and wear the wire cages where are all worn and the pearls have some discolouration and wear to them. i put them on new earring posts, which are also vintage, and re painted the fancy fillagree cages. i havent touched the pearls to keep that old well loved look but would be THE perfect addition to a wedding outfit or for a special event. They are long but hang beautifully and i personally wouldnt wear them for day wear but they are a MUST!!

I was asked by a local cake maker to design some cake toppers for her wedding cakes and to advertise in her cafe which has really sparked a desire to create wedding jewellery. Here is my first EVER hair side. it has a little row of pearls, in this cage very light pink and a red pink tone in a smaller size and i have attached a gorgeous vintage brooch. its still a rough design and this is a prototype but i amazed even myself :)

And finally my MAKE OF THE WEEK this week is this gorgeous caravan cross stitch brooch. These arent for sale but i wanted to share this with you as i LOVE it so much!!! It will be taking pride of place on my Funky Diva Design tea cup bag :)

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to comment and if you need to drop me an email at lizipants@yahoo.co.uk

L xx