New classroom rug

So if you know me, you know I love all things crochet. I saw a post on Pinterest about a t-shirt rug and thought, "Hey, I think I want one of those in my classroom." Below are the steps that I took to create my rug. I'm pretty happy with it and can't wait to find a spot for it.

First, I headed to one of my favorite places: AC Moore. Surprisingly enough, they were having a sale on tshirts. I went with the biggest ones that I could find - 3X. It helps because you don't have to connect the strips as often if the shirts are nice and big. Below are the shirts I got on my first trip. I ended up having to get a few more because these were not quite enough. You'll have to gauge it depending on what size rug you're looking to make.

(Please note Huten peeking in the top - he's a ham and loves to have his picture taken!) Gildan had a ton of color choices so you'll have no problem finding some that work for you!

The next step is to cut the tshirts into strips. Start at the bottom and make a slit about 1/2 inch long. Cut along the bottom seam. The seam area of the strip can be skinnier than the regular shirt area because it is twice as thick. Once you cut around the seam, start your way up into the main tshirt, making the strip about 1 inch wide. Just keep going when you reach the sleeves. You'll have to move the shirt a little bit here and there to keep the inch, but it shouldn't be too difficult. Stop cutting when you get to the end of the sleeves.

Once you have strips, form them into a ball. I connected the strips by tshirt, changing the colors when a shirt's strip was finished. You may want to change faster if you want more variety in the colors. To join, simply tie in a double knot. Make sure to pull tightly so that it won't slip. Don't skip turning the strips into a ball. They get too tangled if you leave them as a pile. The balls get really big, though, so you might have to make a few. This ball was one of three that I made to make my rug.

The next step is to crochet. Stat by crocheting  small chain and joining them with a slip stitch. I did a chain of 6 stitches. The first round, I crocheted 12 stitches into the circle I formed. I did a simple single crochet, only in the back part of the stitch. For the next round, I increased every other stitch for 18 stitches. The next row I did stitch, stitch, 2 stitches for a total of 24 stitches. You may find that you have to play with your increases depending on if your rug gets wavy or if it gets too much like a bowl. Once I got to the point where I was at 20 stitches and then an increase, I was doing that for a few rows before changing. It takes a lot of pulling and playing but eventually, you'll get the hang of it.

Here is my final product. It's a little floppy in places, but I think once I start using it and stepping on it, it'll flatten out.

I'm impressed with how thick and cushy it is. I love mine and hope you enjoy yours!