DIY Kilim Rug

When I shared my tiny half bath makeover, I mentioned I really wanted a Kilim area rug in there. Because the room is so small, it was impossible to find one that would fit. After thinking about it, I decided to DIY one. I found this fabric on Etsy that looked as if it could be rug material with the little line details in the pattern. It was brightly colored, which is what I was looking for so I ordered 1 yard of it.

When I received it, I realized it was too brightly colored for my taste. However, I did really like the reverse side of the fabric because it’s  much more muted. So I flipped it over and used that as the main side.

 

To be honest, this tutorial is actually my second attempt at making the rug. I’ll explain that later. I first ironed the fabric, and then I cut a piece slightly larger than I wanted it to be when finished, leaving room around the sides to fold over the backing. For my rug backing, I used rubber shelf lining that I picked up at Home Depot. I placed the fabric with the side I didn’t want showing facing up. Then I cut the backing to the size I wanted the rug to be and laid that out on top of the fabric.

Next I used my new favorite DIY tool, fabric fusion. I drew a line of the glue accross one entire edge of the backing. Then I folded the fabric over and pressed into place until it stuck.

I did that around all four sides. Once that was dried, I added fringe trim that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I glued that on the two shorter edges.

On my first attempt at making this rug, I actually used a really inexpensive bath mat and folded the fabric around that. It looked OK, until I was about to add the fringe trim. It just didn’t look right so I decided to do it this way, which was my initial thought anyway. So if you noticed that my pattern is a little off center on my finished rug, that is why. I centered the first rug, and didn’t have enough fabric leftover on round 2 to center it again. I’m OK with a little imperfection, it adds character, right? Here is my finished DIY Kilim Rug.

 

And here it is in my small bathroom. This rug was so much easier and less time consuming than the DIY Sisal rug I made my friend! Though I would say they were both worth the effort!

You can see how I painted this vanity to look like barnwood here.

 

 

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