First Attempt at a Rag Rug

After trying some experiments, I settled on cutting up some 60" wide polyester fleece fabric bound for charity and seeing how it weaves up.

I used 2 colors, red and violet. I had about 40" of each. I trimmed off the selvedges from both, sewed the 2 fabrics up into a tube, and cut the tube into one long strip, using my Fraser rag cutter. I set the rag cutter blade 1/2" from the guide, but the actual strips came out closer to 5/8" or even 3/4".

At first cutting the rags was difficult, because I was trying to manage the tube. It had to be rolled along in tandem with the cutting, which was a PITA.

Then I got an idea: I arranged the tube like a big twirly skirt, with one end bunched up in the middle, and one end spread out flat all around the perimiter, in a circle. That way I could crank the cutter and keep the whirlpool of fabric turning pretty easily:

Then it was time to get out the cylinder filling machine, which I have heard others call the Pink Pony. Mine is red, and the detailing on my loom is red, but it has faded to pink in one area where it must have been in the sun for many years. So I think the Pink Ponies may all have been red once. Here's mine, along with the box of 12 cylinders and the baton that's used to pack the rags into the cans as you load them:

The strip of rag goes up through an eye bolt ahead of the front pair of wheels, between the 2 wheels, and down through the funnel into a cylinder. You sit on the tiny seat and crank the big wheel, and the rags go remarkably quickly into the cylinder. You have to pack constantly with the baton so the rags will feed well in the shuttle.

Here is a top view while filling the cylinders:

My 40" tube made enough rags to fill 6 1/2 cylinders.

Here is the shuttle with a cylinder (and a different weft rag):

Here is a tin cylinder, showing the seam and the closed bottom:

I wove the first couple of cylinders, and I get about 7" of weaving out of each. The warp is 39" wide. More pics soon.