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How to Put Fringe on a Rug

Cyndee Kromminga

Give a designer, decorator-quality finish to a handmade or purchased, generic throw rug by adding fringe. Putting fringe on a rug can make a cheap rug look like you spent a fortune. It is the jewelry that completes the outfit, so to speak.

Fringe trim can be purchased by the yard and comes in a variety of textures and colors, or you can make your own to coordinate with a handmade rug.

Attaching Fringe to a Crocheted Rag Rug

  1. Count the number of crocheted stitches along the edges where the fringe will be attached.

  2. Choose a cotton fabric that matches or coordinates with your crocheted rug. Cut the fabric into 1-inch-wide strips, and cut each strip into a 15-inch length for each crocheted stitch counted.

  3. Lay the rug on your work surface with the back side facing up. Fold one rag strip in half, matching the two cut ends. Insert your crochet hook through one stitch along the rug's edge being fringed. Grab the folded end of the strip with the crochet hook and pull it up through the stitch about an inch. Do not remove the hook from the folded loop.

  4. Slide the hook over the edge of the stitch and grab the strip's two loose ends on the back of the rug. Pull the hook back, bringing the loose ends through the folded loop. Pull the ends all the way through the loop to cinch the fringe. Repeat with the remaining strips in each stitch on the rug's edge.

Bullion Fringe Throw Rug

  1. Lay a purchased "fringeless" throw rug on your work surface with the back side facing up. Measure the length of the edges where the fringe will be attached.

  2. Cut a length of coordinating bullion fringe trim for each measured edge, plus 1 inch. Handle the cut fringe carefully to keep the ends from unraveling.

  3. Apply a line of household cement on the back of the rug, along the edges to be fringed. Place the long bound edge of the bullion trim on the cement, allowing the width of the fringe to extend over the rug's edge, and an even amount of each cut end of the trim to extend past the rug's side edges. Firmly press the bound edge of the trim into the rug. Allow the cement to dry.

  4. Trim off the ends of the excess fringe from each side edge of the rug. The dried adhesive will prevent the trim from unraveling.