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Rug Problems

Submitted by ninaclock on December 7, 2006 - 3:21am. | |

Setbacks seem to be my middle name these days. I have a big ball of i-cord that I'm just itching to turn into a rug to compliment this woven one I made a while ago.

I consulted The Knitted Rug by Donna Druchunas. The instructions for the "Coiled Cord Oval Rug" called to use a whipstitch on the wrong side to hold the i-cord together making sure to make sure that the cord doesn't twist. I've done that and it's puckering! The bigger it gets, the more it puckers.

Even though I've already spent many hours working on this, I think it's time to rip out the whipstitching and try another technique. I really think the effort will be worth it, though. Any suggestions?

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Hi there! It looks great.

Submitted by Donna Druchunas (not verified) on December 7, 2006 - 10:24am.

Hi there! It looks great. The reason it's puckering is that you're wrapping it too tightly. The outside strand of i-cord has to be bigger than the inside strand so it doesn't draw in and turn into a big bowl shape. When you're sewing, you'll need to catch 2 outside rows of i-cord to 1 inside row periodically to allow the outside to be loose enough.

If you still have problems with it when you're done, and this looks like wool... you can steam block it into shape and then line the rug with a piece of pre-shrunk fabric. That way the backing will help the rug maintain its shape. You sew the lining around the edge of the rug, and then use small X shaped stitches scattered across the back of the rug to hold the rug down to the lining fabric.

The oval i-cord rug in The Knitted Rug tends to pooch out in the center after it's been in storage for a while, but wetting it and steaming it into shape works great. It stays flat as long as it is not folded or rolled up. I did not line that rug, but a lining would help it stay in shape even when it was stored.

Hope that helps.

Donna

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