Sew simple

Spruce up your floors with a DIY design inspired by traditional Berber crafts. Berber communities originate from the Atlas mountains in North Africa, spanning countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Their distinct aesthetic features shapes that have special meanings, and these were often incorporated into gorgeous woven looped rugs. Try our project using coloured rope to add pattern to a plain rug, and invite the beautiful Berber style into your home.

1 Start by planning out a rough design on paper. Use a large A3 sheet to help you visualise where you’d like to place your motifs. Look for existing lines within the rug design to help you create sections. Begin with a motif in the centre of the rug (such as a classic Berber diamond shape) and a border, then balance out your design by drawing shapes on either side of the centre point.

2 Using tailor’s chalk, draw the first section of your design onto the rug (we started with the border). Don’t worry if you make any mistakes, just rub off the chalk with a damp cloth and start again. Mark one section or motif at a time, otherwise the chalk will rub off as you handle the rug when stitching the pattern.

3 Measure your jute rope against the chalk section you’ve marked out, add on an extra 5cm, and cut. To stop the rope ends from fraying, ensure they are tightly secured with your couching stitches when you begin sewing.

4 Cut a long piece of twine and thread it onto your wide-eye needle, but don’t tie a knot at the end. Instead, start with a securing stitch by feeding your needle through the back of the rug, below where your first couching stitch will be, pulling it through the front and leaving a tail of thread at the back. Stitch back and forth through the rug, two or three times, to secure. End with the needle at the back of the rug.