I grew up in a family of women who created crafts for their homes. I learned to knit, sew, and quilt from an early age. My great grandmother, Ina (Kerschner) McGraw, made rag rugs. Several of her rugs found their way into my childhood home. One always sat on the floor in front of the kitchen sink to cushion our feet as we washed dishes.

For years, I have saved old flannel sheets. We used them so much that we wore holes through the middle. I am partial to L.L. Bean so the flannel is high quality. A single worn spot does not prevent the rest of the fabric from becoming unusable. I have always intended to use the fabric for something. A few years ago, I started a bradied rug, just like the ones my great grandmother used to make. The project stalled and sat on the shelf for a long time, until two weeks ago, when I began to clean and purge my studio. I decided to finish the rug. Since then, I completed it, made another, and started a third. I plan to make as many rugs as I can to use up all the flannel sheets I have saved.

To view photographs of the first two rugs, check out my Substack page: https://substack.com/@deborahsweeney2/note/c-102419658

If you would like to try making a braided rug, I created a pdf of the instructional pages from the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework.