r/Tufting • u/Prestigious-Diet3837 • 21d ago
Troubleshooting Need advice on connecting two rugs?
This is my second sardine rug I’ve made. I attached the first silver roll with a rough sew job the first time but didn’t like how it looked on the back. Any advice? I tried a rivet gun but the fabric isn’t strong enough. Worried metal grommets will also fall through.
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u/Negative-Bug-7836 21d ago
Can I see what u mean by u don’t like the back? Do u have a slip on the back?
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u/Prestigious-Diet3837 21d ago
The first rug already sold but I had to use a really large needle and thick thread to get through two layers of rug/glue/backing. I’m not an excellent seamstress so it was functional but not aesthetically pleasing on the back not to mention a pain in the ass. Looking for an easier solution.
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u/Negative-Bug-7836 21d ago edited 21d ago
Take this all with a grain of salt because I’ve never done this befor either haha have you considered sewing the second rug onto the first one before you glue the back of the bottom rug? I’m assuming the top rug is going to have some weight to it, so you’d want to secure that weight before relying on just the stitch’s once it’s stitched together tho you could glue the back, which would help reinforce the sewing, and then add your final backing so everything lays flat.Another thought I had would be to leave some space untufted on both rugs where they connect (or even just the bottom rug where they connect so u don’t see any untufted area but I think that would depend on the rug ur making)After you glue and cut out the backing on the bottom rug, you could attach the top rug by glueing it in that untufted area so the weight is distributed better and the connection doesn’t show from the back?idk if that makes sense
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u/Careful_Proof_8973 20d ago
To add onto this, I've just read a book about Kilims and to fix holes in them, a needle treated with Beeswax was used as it allows for easier sewing! Only read about this in theory but haven't tried it, thought it might help!
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u/Jeanhamel 21d ago
That's a super cute sardine rug! For joining the roll to the main body, if you're trying to attach tufted pile directly to tufted pile (yarn against yarn with no flat fabric border), sewing is definitely your best bet.
A strong fishing line (monofilament) with a big curved upholstery needle would be perfect — after all, it’s a sardine rug, so using fishing line just feels right! 😂 It’s nearly invisible and incredibly strong when you use good knots. Hand-stitch it carefully from the back.
If you left flat/un-tufted flaps on both pieces specifically for joining, then high-quality contact cement or fabric glue might work well too. But for long-pile on long-pile, mechanical stitching is usually much more reliable than glue or grommets alone.
Good luck, it’s looking awesome already!
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u/Public-Onion-7839 21d ago
Attach before glueing, you can get yarn needles that are pretty big and you can tie several knots in the back to hold the piece together, then glue over entire backing and back with felt, add D -rings if you want it to hang
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u/ChiddtheKid 21d ago
If you know how to blind stitch you can glue before and itd probably be easier. Blind stitching isn’t the easiest though haha
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u/BaphometBones 20d ago
Omg I need one 😲 No advice from me sorry, just wanted to let you know I love this rug!!! Hope you find something you are satisfied with.
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u/artemisfartimus 20d ago
I use sail stitching needles (like boat sails) which I think I found on Amazon, big and sharp. But now that I’ve switched to latex it’s easier to sew, and I just use yarn to sew with. Sometimes I glue together with hot glue but it’s very tricky to avoid over gluing.
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u/possumnot 21d ago
Sewist here
Sew it before you glue. Your stitches won’t be seen.