Rug Tutorial

Rugs are the perfect finishing touch to any room, and a dollhouse is no exception. I always feel like a dollhouse seems so much more realistic when you can spot a few rugs. If you'd like to purchase a rug from me, I feel like my price are reasonable compared to others. You can click here to view my rug collection, and I'll also include a gallery of photos at the end of this post.

For those that want to make their own dollhouse rugs, you have a ton of options. I've made rugs from felt, faux fur, velvet paper (more on that in a minute), yarn, and jute. I'm going to break this tutorial down by the materials used to make the rug.

Velvet Rugs

My first dollhouse rug purchased through an online shop cost me $14. I was shocked at the price, but I had no idea how to make my own rugs. When I received it in the mail, the rug was surprisingly realistic and felt just like velvet. That got me thinking I might be able to make my own rugs so I went to Amazon and search for "velvet paper." Lo and behold, y'all! Velvet paper is a real thing, and it's exactly what it sounds like: paper that feels just like velvet. Click here to purchase a pack of your own velvet paper.

It's so easy to make a rug with this paper, and you can do just about any rug you want. Find an image of a rug you like (or design your own, which would be a lot of fun) and resize it on whatever program you like to use.

I prefer to use the Silhouette Studio software that came with my Silhouette Cameo because I can do so much with it. You can see a screenshot above showing that I resized my rugs to be 5"x7" (for 1:12 scale, this is the same as a 5'x7' rug), which means I can fit 2 rugs on one sheet of velvet paper.

Then, you just print it on your printer. People always ask me if I have a special printer for this, and I most definitely do not. I seriously have the cheapest printer ever (it cost me $50), and I love it. It's just like printing out anything else.

It's probably not necessary, but I like to let the paper dry for a couple minutes after it's printed since it uses a lot of ink. Then, just use a good pair of scissors (I prefer sharp fabric scissors) to cut out your rug. Voila! You have a beautiful, realistic rug that matches your dollhouse perfectly since you got to choose the image.

Felt Rugs

You can also make rugs from felt that you can purchase at craft stores. They aren't quite as realistic as the velvet paper rugs, but they still have better texture than just printing a rug image onto a piece of regular paper. Hobby Lobby has a great selection of patterned felts, including the ones you see pictured above.

Jute, Yarn, and Fur Rugs

You can make very realistic dollhouse rugs from faux fur, jute, and yarn, although these are a lot more time consuming.

I purchase small sheets of faux fur from Joann's, and it comes in a few different colors, too. I found an image of a bearskin that I resized, printed on cardstock, and cut out. Then I just trace the pattern to the back of the faux fur and cut it out with fabric scissors. Right after you cut the fur, it sheds a lot so just pull off the excess fur around the edges.

For a jute rug, I made a circle or oval pattern that shows concentric circles (see a few photos back) to give me a guide for the jute. Most people can probably do it without a guide, but I just know mine would like ridiculous without it. Print the pattern onto cardstock and cut it out. Use hot glue and start in the center of the rug. Just apply a small amount of hot glue at a time since it dries so quickly and press the jute into the glue before it dries. Keep going around the oval or circle until you reach the outside. The same method applies to a braided yarn rug.

I hope this has given you lots of ideas on how to make your own dollhouse rugs. If you're not the crafty type, you can buy a rug from me (or lots of other online shops). Here is a gallery of my rug collection: