Hello Cafe,

I wanted to share with you a rather simple way to create a petal effect. These directions reflect only how I did the petal and in no way means this is how it has to be done. Your own unique creativity may be a simpler way yet and better suit your own individual method of ragrugging.

In the photo of, "A Flower For My Daughter", (and close up), you can see a thin strip of black, in the white portion of the rug, that runs down to the edge of the red circle. I accomplished this in just a few simple steps and if used around the entire rug, will create a flower.

I first cut one strip of black material in half lenghtwise, and cut again crosswise to shorten the length. This was not a large area to be worked and didn't require a long piece of material.

I attached one end of the half strip, to the outter edge of the white, by knot.

Using my tool with the other end, I weaved the strip of material, in and out, through the weave of the white portion of rug, until I reached the edge of red.

Placing my hand on the area I just weaved, ( to keep the rug in place), I gently pulled on the tool end of material, causing the white portion of rug to gather itself.

The tighter you pull, the more petal effect you'll get. You may have to adjust the gather the more you pull. When I was satisfied with the depth of petal the gathering created, I secured the black strip of material by knot as shown in the Cafe video tutorial.

I hope you found this easy to read and exciting enough to try!

If there are any questions, I will be happy to answer them the best I can.

Happy Rugging Cafe,

Rhonda