If you own or are planning to have a shaggy floor mat, then it’s best to learn how to make a latch hook rug into a pillow if you want to make something else out of it.
What is Latch Hooking?
Before we get started with the tutorial, let’s dive deep to get a closer look at latch hooking. The latch hook isn’t just a tool, but it’s also a textile art. It’s unlike traditional rug hooking or even locker hooking that involves knotting the yarn to the canvas.
The latch book has been around since the 19th century. The first folks who were into this type of textile art made use of the latch needle. However, at present, this needle has gone through quite a number of variations.
Nowadays, crafters and artisans are producing latch hook rugs with the use of a hand tool and a rug canvas that has been specially woven. These rug canvases can have a minimum of about 3.3 holes per inch up to approximately 5 hpi. While the pattern can be worked from a separate chart that closely resembles the needlepoint pattern, it’s also possible to have the pattern stenciled onto the canvas.
Your Guide to Making a Latch Hook Rug Into a Pillow
While latch hooking is ideal for rugs because of the unique texture it brings to the mundane floor mats, it can also be used in decorative pieces. You might have seen them as wall hangings, but if you want to incorporate functionality, go for pillows instead.
Even if you are planning to make a rug in the first place, you might realize during the long and tedious process that you cannot just put all that work into something and literally step all over it. With pillows, you can still get to admire its beauty longer.
Step 1: Get your latch hook rug
If you already have a latch hook rug available for this project, then proceed straight to creating the pillow. Otherwise, go to the next step. Keep in mind that there is no required size for this, although you are recommended to have it wide or rectangular.
Step 2: Create a plan for your latch hook rug
If you are starting with creating the latch hook rug, then before doing anything or even collecting the materials needed, you have to make a plan. To begin with, pick out a sample or create a pattern and proceed after doing so.
Keep in mind that latch hooking is not a tricky process, but it is, in no way, something that you are recommended to do in one sitting, more so if you are covering a wide canvas. Nonetheless, with patience and perseverance, a splendid product will be made.
For this activity, you would need a blank canvas and a needle for latch hooking. Another main element to create the rug is the yarn. You can either buy the rolls or the pre-cut ones, although the former is significantly more cost-efficient.
Step 3: Start with the latch hooking
To create the rug itself, cut the yarn first into several strands that are five inches long each, although you can make those longer if you want a fluffier texture. Afterward, get a single trimmed thread and wrap it around your latch hook.
Proceed to your canvas and insert the metal hook through one of the several square spaces in the grid. Pull the needle until about half of the thread attached has passed the walls of the hole. Do not detach the yarn before you get to form a knot.
To do so, push the needle upwards to pass the same space on the canvas again and hook the tails of the yarn. Pull it downwards so that the ends pass through the loop that you have created using the thread. You can also tighten the knot if you feel the need to.
Repeat doing the same thing over and over again, following the colors in the pattern that you have chosen if you had one. It will take some time, but by the end of it all, your latch hook rug should be ready.
Step 4: Make the pillowcase
First, make the pillowcase by folding the rug in a way that the patterned sides are facing each other. Also, make sure that the edges align so that the pillow will be even. Temporarily fasten the fold using either straight or safety pins.
Tie three sides of the folded latch hook rug tightly using yarn through the available square spaces in the canvas. Make sure to leave one side open for the stuffing. Afterward, turn the case inside out so that the textured surface or the right side is exposed.
All that is left to do then is to insert the filling inside the empty pillowcase. Using a whipstitch, close the remaining open side so that none of the stuffing will spill. For a cleaner finish, tuck the end of the yarn used to close the case to the inside of the pillow.
Final Thoughts on How to Make a Latch Hook Rug Into a Pillow
If you reached this part, then you might have already realized that understanding how to make a latch hook rug into a pillow does not take as much work as creating the project itself. It may be arduous, but rest assured that by the end, it will be worth it.