Guest Tutorial - How to Make a Hopscotch Rug

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Drum roll please... my favorite artist is guest blogging today, and guess what? No sewing required! Check her out here to see more great stuff she's made.

"As a gigantic fan of The Sewing Dork blog (and the sewing dork herself!) I am beyond flattered to be guest blogging today. I’m offering a tutorial on how to make a hopscotch rug, based on this one I saw at Crate and Barrel. Mine cost $12.

First, I just have to say, as a busy mom of 3 who has never officially blogged before, this was an eye-opener. I commend all those wonderful, creative souls who share their talents, knowledge and life experiences through their blogs...’cause it’s a lot of work!

So, I began with a little trip to JYSK to pick up this nubby, black runner on clearance for $10. You think,”SCORE!” but if you’d seen this rug in it’s original shape, covered in lint and dust and other evils, you would probably have said, “eww” and passed it by. My husband thinks it’s an unfortunate talent I have to see the “potential” in things that look like garbage to the naked eye.



So I gave it a quick clean and laid out my materials:

· Runner

· White Acrylic Paint (although fabric paint might be a better choice – I used what I had on hand)

· A roll of that rubbery stuff that keeps your rugs from slipping

· Paint Brush and small tray

· White chalk pencil or white chalk

· Glue gun (I’m assuming you realize this means glue sticks too, right? Just checking)

· Cereal Box (must be Honey Bunches of Oats because that’s the yummiest)

· Scissors



Use the cereal box as a template for the squares. I loved the dome shape on the C&B rug, but I wanted the numbers to go to 10 so it didn’t work in my design. You can use a stencil for the numbers or draw them in freehand like I did. Good thing this allows for shaky hands!



Once the chalk outlines are completed, just paint them over with white paint!



I photographed a fat little brush in the supplies photo, but realized I needed a smaller brush to satisfy the nitpicker in me who wanted cleaner lines and more control.



I took the rubbery stuff and cut it into 6 equal strips to attach to the back of the rug so a playful game of hopscotch would not end up in a neck brace for the little darlings.



At first I was going to handsew it on, but as a lazy efficient person, after 4 stitches, I realized it would be a very unwise thing to continue so I switched to the woman’s answer to duct tape – HOT GLUE!





I enthusiastically hot glued and patted the strips down and my hands looked like I’d waved my hands in my grandma’s attic. Pulling off the glue, I wasn’t sure what parts were glue and which parts were skin... TMI?



Lastly, paint yourself a cute little ladybug rock.



Now pull your child away from her favourite movie and force her to play with and enjoy it!

Truthfully, she loved it, but I have to polish up on my hopscotch rules because apparently I was playing it all wrong..."