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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Cutting a Rug.....

We got the townhouse back to its proper place in the family room this morning. Now I can get back to work.

I decided that, for the three or four people in the world that aren't familiar with making a pattern for a wall or floor covering the easy way, I would demonstrate.

With a little bit of help from my friends, I started laying out the pattern for the bedroom wall to wall carpeting.

I armed myself with a stack of fresh computer paper, a pencil(It doesn't have to have lead.), a pair of scissors and some scotch tape.

Starting on the farthest wall, I centered it in the front bay. I pushed it up into the bay, against the wall, with the corners curving up.

Then Tessie ran her pencil along the wall to crease the paper, so that it would fit in the bay exactly. Hold onto the paper whilst doing this so that it doesn't slip.

With that one cut and laid in place, we kept adding sheets, overlapping as we progressed. We taped each sheet to the one under it to keep it in place.

We simply kept going until the entire floor was covered.

When we got to the edge, we creased it and cut it off.

I took over and pinned the pattern to the fabric at about six inch intervals along the edges so that it wouldn't shift while I was cutting off the excess.

I cut it with regular sewing shears. The longer the blade the better for cutting straight lines.


I laid it back in for a dry fitting. It fits.

I am not going to install it until the windows at the back are in place and their frames are on...I may even finish the curtains first.

As soon as I got it in place, Tessie had to see the trim against it.

The photo is a bit strange. The carpet is actually a couple shades darker than the paint...

When I get to laying the carpet, I will use Yes Glue. I will paint it on the floor with a brush and then put the carpet over it. Again, I will start at the back and work my way towards myself.

This same pattern method can be used for walls(wallpaper patterns). It works for any kind of material, fabric or paper.

That's enough of this for now. I am going to go trim out the windows.

See you tomorrow.

10 comments:

rosanna said...

I'll have soon to cover nearly 4 square mts of floors and this IS usefull. Have a nice day, Rosanna

Phyllisa said...

YEAH! I'm glad to see you are back to working on the house.I'll be watching closely for ideas for my own house.There's a window I have to fix, so that will be first.
Phyllisa

Lucille said...

Thanks, Casey. The explanation is very clear and I appreciate it tremendously!

Phyllisa said...

BTW, is that commercial miniature rug material or something else?
Phyllisa

Caseymini said...

Phylissa, the fabric is plain upholter's cotton velvet. I have had it for a long time. I believe it came from Hancock's Fabrics here in town. I usually use upholstery fabric for rugs. I don't think that I have ever bought any of the fabric that they sell as dollhouse rugs. It is really expensive and usually is upholstery fabric anyway.

Phyllisa said...

Hi again Casey. Thanks for replying to my question on mini rugs. You
backed up what I was already thinking.Now everyone who reads your blog also knows.
Phyllisa

jeanuhlik said...

Thanks, Casey!! I am at the exact same spot with my dollhouse!! I really appreciate the advice. I brought home some flooring samples yesterday, but am thinking I'll use the iron on luan that they use to finish the edges of plywood. I've had a roll of that in my woodshop for ages now. You're right, the "carpet" I saw at hobby store is nasty, like velvet shavings glued to paper, uggg. ((HUGGS))

Claudia said...

You have so much more experience than me, but it's good to know that my method for figuring out the dimensions of my wallpaper was a good one. I did much the same thing you did for the carpet.

xo
Claudia

Kathi said...

You've inspired me (once again) to get back to work on the beach house kitchen. I've got a floor to do there too. It won't be carpet but I will use your idea for the tile installation.
Thanks for the link to Debs lace place! I spent my entire lunch hour there. :D

jeanuhlik said...

That's so cool, Casey, must be nice to have 4 extra little helping hands!!! "mini"-((HUGGS))