Can you imagine a carpet made out of old worn-out woolen sweaters? Or maybe a Patchwork carpet made out of old classic Swedish wall hangings? These ideas, along with 10 others are to be included in the Swedish art project "Re Rag Rug".
Re Rag Rug is an experimental design project that aims to transform seemingly worthless materials into exclusive carpets. In total, the project will be comprised of 12 carpets, all made using different techniques and fetching inspiration from different parts of the world.
Katarina Brieditis and Catherine Evans started Re Rag Rug in August 2012. Both have backgrounds in textile / art design and a strong common interest for renewal and recycling of waste materials.
This is how Catherine Evans explains why they came up with the idea of turning them into carpets, "It's a product with a long life span and a greater value than a towel or a pair of jeans for example. A carpet builds a room and creates an atmosphere. If you have a carpet then you have a home." Carpets also have a strong cultural heritage and the fact that carpet making has been around for several thousand years makes it even more interesting.
Among the carpets they are working on they aim to include the "Milky Way" which consists of old sweaters, a pepita patterned carpet made up of old t-shirts and a thick rag rug with a thickness of several centimeters, that flows along like a winding country road.
The project will end with an exhibition at the paint factory in Stockholm between the 16th and 25th of October 2013. Read more about Re Rag Rug here.