Just as we’re on the verge of buying a sewing machine so we can actually MAKE some of the things we imagine, we’ve been seeing images of beautiful patchwork rugs made out of vintage kilim remnants. Wondering if it would be possible to DIY them ourselves, we went hunting for kilim remnants.
It turns out, they are not so easy to find. We couldn’t find them at any of our usual sources like Ebay and Etsy. We DO have a friend who found some at a flea market. So it seems that the making of a patchwork kilim rug would depend on kismit and a good amount of luck sourcing the materials.
But we DID find some pretty, affordale patchwork kilims rugs like this one, made with 40-year-old kilims:
…and this one available at kilims.com...
For more on kilims check out our recent post The Unexpected Histories And Care Of Kilims.
via SF Girl by the Bay LINK; photo via Lina Ostling
I hate to rain on your parade, but even if you found remnants, you wouldn’t be able to make a rug with them. They are thick and require a special machine to put them together. However, if you found them, you could probably take them to a carpeting place and they’d put them together for you–for a fee, of course.
Another idea, if you’re not absolutely stuck on Kiliims, is to find other things–eg, small Mexican rugs, rag rugs, old hooked rugs, etc.
But anything that would be thick enough to work on a rug would have to be taken somewhere–OR you could do it by hand! NOT! I’ve tried it.
There’s no regular sewing machine that could do this. If you’re thinking of making something heavy duty like upholstery or slipcovers (potentially 6 layers of fabric in places), ask the salesperson about it ahead of time. Some really struggle on these things.
You’re not raining on the parade, just giving welcome input to an idea. I have two very old kilims (75 or so years) and their weave is not that dense, perhaps from ages, not nearly as dense as a pillow I have. So I think it might vary with the remnants found (although a long shot). I was going to mention other kinds of scraps, including leather…or canvas that would be rubberized (I’m looking into that). The sewing machine I’ve got my eye on does sew leather, so will keep you posted on how much it can handle (I want to finally make the bag I’ve been looking for for years….). Thanks for your comment and sharing your experience.