Toothbrush Rug

My first toothbrush rug! If you have never heard about this old tradition of rug making read the history of this craft below. This rug is made with NO sewing involved! The colors, materials and designs are endless. You can make them oval or round and I imagine you could even come up with how to make a square rug too!

The finished project: 27" X 20" oval toothbrush rug

The History of the Toothbrush Rug

The orgin of this rug is an old Scandinavian technique that was used to make mittens, hats, and even milk strainers of all things. The original complex technique was brought to the United States by immigrants long ago. It was modified during the 1930's to the easy method that we use today. This is thought to have been done by WPA workers in Minnesota.

These rugs were very popular during World Wars 1 and 2 as well as the Depression. All of which were times when fabrics and money were scarce.

Though a toothbrush rug looks similar to a braided rug, it takes half as much fabric. In the decades following the Depression, the Toothbrush Rug all but disappeared, until the early 80's when the craft was rediscovered and passed along to students from all walks of life.

And I might add they are so fun to make and helps one use up their fabric stash or old sheets, etc. If you are interested in how to make a toothbrush rug just google it...there are lots of free sites to check out how to and some with free videos to watch.