To Make a Rag Carpet
Ten pounds of purple warp, ten of green, four of yellow, seven of red,
will make a pretty stripe, mingled and arranged according to your fancy;
the above quantity of warp, with fifty-eight pounds of rags will make
forty-two yards, yard wide. In most cities warp can be purchased ready
colored.
A very good proportion is a pound and a quarter of rags, and
three-quarters of a pound of warp to the yard. Save all the scraps in
cutting out work; have a bag for the purpose hanging in a convenient
place, and when you have leisure cut them. Old muslin garments that are
not worth giving away, may be torn in strips and colored. In cutting out
clothes for boys, from men's garments, there will always be scraps and
strips.
By purchasing a little red flannel to mix in, the appearance is
improved. A carpet wears cleaner to be about one-third cotton, and
two-thirds woollen rags to mix the colors. Do not sew a strip that is
longer than three yards, and the cotton should be much shorter, as the
warp is usually of that material, there is more danger from fire.
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