Sofi's T-Shirt Rag Rug

In order to keep costs down as much as possible I'm making everything in Sofia's new bedroom myself.  That last statement is only partly true.  I actually enjoy making stuff and I get all warm and fuzzy feeling when people compliment the things I make.  So, although I am cheap I am also a compliment hog.  There, full disclosure!  The first thing I am making for Sofi Sue is her rug.  I can't get in the room yet to make her loft so I have to start small with things I can make and store until the guest bedroom/Tim's office furniture gets moved out.  I first saw Laura from xoelle.com's tutorial a couple of years ago.

The diy for this rug at xoelle.com made me start collecting old t-shirts immediately!

I didn't know where I would put the rug I planned on making, I just knew that I had to have it!  I started collecting white t-shirts at rummage sales and also got a few from my friend Sari.  If you shop on the second day of a rummage sale they almost always have a bag sale to get rid of their extra inventory.  For $5 you can fill up a bag with whatever you want, and I wanted t-shirts!  After over a year of collecting t-shirts I finally had enough to make a good sized rug, as well as finally having an idea of which room to put the rug.  In.  Where on earth does the word in go in that sentence?  Anyway, I also now knew that the rug would be pink to go with Sofi Sue's color scheme.  But the latch hook method didn't end up working out for me.  Instead I used This tutorial from thehappyhousewife.com .  I already had the old towels so over the course of a several of months I cut my t-shirts, dyed them, and sewed them onto the towels.

Almost finished with my t-shirt scraps

You have to scrunch the t-shirt strips up to make the rug fluffier.  This rug is all about being fluffy!

At this point sewing the rug was getting a little unwieldy.

Halfway there.

I only worked between a half an hour to an hour a day, otherwise this project wouldn't have taken me quite so long. I ran out of pink t-shirt strips partway through, but luckily found that I had stashed more white t-shirts under my craft table.  After another run to Joann Fabrics I had enough pink dye to finish off the rug.  And so at least a year and a half (I am underestimating here) after hatching a plan to make this rug it is finally done!

This rug is a little under 4' by 4'.  I was hoping for larger but didn't want to cut and dye any more t-shirts!

 Sofi had better use this rug until she moves out of the house!