Mug Rugs Again

David & Kenzie have moved into their new house.  They watched it being built, and painted, etc.  Even the kids helped.  ;- ]

 
As they have a teal accent wall in the livingroom, I thought I'd make them some mug rugs.  Probably in a teal colorway, but right now I'm just playing around.

More Colorways

First one is an older fabric that was cut on the bias for another purpose (spinning fabric).  The second one is the fruit loops fabric with a rust colored rug warp.

I've cut some starry/spacey black fabric.  Still looking for the right warp.  I have a pale blue that looks gray in the right light.  I may try that next.

How To Weave A Mug Rug

assorted mug rugs

Wrap a 6" square sturdy canvas art board with cotton rug warp or other weaving yarn.  32 wraps starting half an inch in from one side and finishing half an inch from the other side.  Tape the ends.  Make marks on the board on all sides for convenience.

front of the board

back of the board.

Slide a wooden skewer under the warp on the side you are going to weave first.  Use a tapestry needle to lift the warps so you can easily slide it under.

Make 4 passes of the tabby weave (standard over-under weave) using the same cotton warp yarn.  Be sure to bubble the tabby passes.  This is to keep the sides from pulling in when you beat the yarn.  

make a wide curve

this is bubbling to insure an even beat

After the first 4 tabby passes, alternate tabby with the fabric passes.  Fabric strips should be about 1" wide, give or take.  Do not bubble the fabric passes or there will be too much material bunched up.

start of first fabric pass

Note:  I turn the board this way and that as I work on it, whatever is comfortable.  The mug rug builds from one end toward the other.

first pass of the fabric weft

You can fold the fabric in half as it goes in so the right side appears on the front and back of the mug rug.  Or you can let it bunch up or twist, as you like.  I do all of that for variety.

tuck the tag end of the fabric into the first pass

Pinch or hold down the starting edge of the weft passes to keep the thread or fabric from being pulled in.  Eyeball or measure as you go.  The width of the mug rug is approx. 4.5", but it should stay the same.

pinch or hold down the start of the weft passes 

Beat carefully until you can put a hem stitch in place.

Once you have woven three fabric and tabby passes you can hem stitch the top of the mug rug.  This will allow you to beat as hard as you want.

hem stitch every four warp threads

finish each bundle of threads with a slip knot

Beat the weft harder now.  You can move threads up with the tip of the tapestry needle.  Don't get carried away.  You'll find your happy beat with practice.

hem stitch 

Laying in a new fabric weft.

leave a tail

overlap new fabric weft over old one

Do the same thing with the tabby weft.

overlay tabby and bubble as usual

Weavy-weave.  Ignore tail ends.  They can be tucked in when you are done.

Depending on your yarn size and fabric width, you will make 16 to 18 fabric passes.  It's easy to count the fabric loops.

tuck in the end of the fabric on the last pass

weave four more shots of tabby

hem stitch

first mug rug done

Now flip the board over to weave the second mug rug.

slip the skewer under the warp threads

weave away

When you finish, use an exacto to slice the mug rugs apart at the top.

slice along the top of the board

Then cut the loops apart at the bottom.

cut the loops

 You now have two mug rugs.

Wet the mug rugs in the sink and press them dry.  Do not wring or they'll get misshapen.  Leave them to dry on a towel.  

Tuck any stray threads.

Some More Mug Rugs

Some of the dozen+ mug rugs I've woven recently.  Having fun with colorways, both warp and fabric weft.

New Colorway Mug Rugs

I was looking for Southwest colors, but this looks more like carnival.  Still quite festive.  I got a couple more colorways to play with.

Need to get extra tapestry needles.

**********

Working on a couple more colorways for the warp.

Lavender warp and yellow warp

Yellow warp w, white tabby

Weaving Mug Rugs

Two new, two old.

Working on another one.

Mug Rugs

Weaving a set of mug rugs on a sample loom ~ a canvas board for oil painting ~ they make great weaving sample and class loom because they have tooth that holds the yarns in place.

Xmas prezzie.  8-]

Last-minute Xmas Gifts

Finally finishing up my sample mug rugs from my class this summer, and started another set.  Giving them for Christmas gifts.  ;-]

These are the blue jeans selvege ones.

And these are the fabric strip ones.  They weave more like rag rugs because they squoosh down.

Working on the last one.

This one is still on the back.  Can't be cut off until both are finished.  The system works great.

Blue Jeans Mug Rugs

I have a bag of blue jeans selvage from Pendleton Mill that works great as weft for mug rugs.  It adds an interesting texture and weaves up quickly.

I warped up a board with natural cotton rug warp. I used blue jeans selvage in a basket weave pattern as weft with tabby shots of cotton rug warp between. Here the tabby is bubbled before beating with the tapestry needle.

tabby weft with bubbling

Here the blue jeans selvage weft is pulled straight while holding onto a loop at the other end. This keeps the mug rug from pulling in.

blue jeans weft pulled straight

And here's the finished mug rug.  Note the hem stitch.  I won't take it off the board as yet because I can weave a second mug run on the reverse side.

mug rug with hem stitch

I won't take it off the board as yet because I can weave a second mug run on the reverse side.

warp on the reverse

 Here's a rag weave variation:

sample rag woven mug rug

The weft is cut from strips of fabric.

~*~

Supplies:

canvas art boards
self-sticking label squares
cotton warp
bamboo skewers
tapestry needles
blue jeans weft
scissors
6" ruler
ziploc baggies
pencil & paper