Michael Sue's Tips: How to Create a Faux Braided Rug

A regular braided rug will have a solid color center, multicolor blended body and a couple of rows around the outside edge of a darker color. 

Materials for braided rugs

1" scale uses single strand of worsted weight yarn or 3 strands of 6 ply each of DMC embroidery floss braided together.

1/2" scale uses single strand of any one of these: baby weight yarn, sport weight, or fingering yarn. Or, braid 3 strands of 3 ply each from the DMC embroidery floss.

1/4" scale uses 1 strand of DMC Pearl Cotton (a 2 ply twisted floss) or 3 strands of 1 ply from the DMC embroidery floss.

(DMC floss is 6 ply)

(DMC Pearl Cotton is 2 ply twisted thread)

A good white glue is Aleene's Tacky. Some white glues will yellow after a year or so, even to the point of turning brown.

Instructions

To do an oval braided rug just a few calculations are needed.

1. Cut an oval to your desired size  from ultra lightweight iron-on interfacing.
2. Mark the center with a pencil on the sticky side.
3. Measure from the center point to the outside edge of the narrowest diameter.
4. Mark the same distance in from each end.
5. Draw a light line down the center from each mark. This gives you your start line.
6. Calculating done. That was simple!
7. The rest is up to you. Color, material, design;   the technique is always the same.
8. Tack down your braid with just a dot of good white glue here and there as you wind the braid around and around the start line.
9. After the rug is all filled up, permanently iron the backing onto your braiding. This will flatten it up and give you a great bond.