Making a Fiery Sunflower Rug From Start To Finish with a Tufting Gun

In this video I will be making a very cool sunflower rug, and showcasing the entire process. It was quite the process so I hope you enjoy this video. Please subscribe to see all the latest rugs. And feel free to comment and leave suggestions!
As always, I start by laying out my tufting cloth on a smooth, flat surface. From there I measure the width and length that is required to fit my 3x3 tufting frame. Then, I bring up my selected image onto a laptop that is connected via HDMI to a projector. Once the projected image is aligned appropriately on the frame, I begin tracing the design with permanant markers. Once I'm satisfied with how the design looks, I will gather the yarn that I've already skeined. From there I thread two strands of yarn (one from each skein) through the eyelets that are attached to the tufting frame, and into my tufting gun. Then it is time to start tufting! I always like to start with the outline, and from that point, its just a matter of finishing one color at a time, making sure to keep the lines close together, until all the tufting is complete.
After the tufting is completed, and I've made sure all loose threads have been pulled out or snipped off, it's time to glue the back. As shown in the video, I use a generous amount of Roberts Carpet Adhesive. Dollop after dollop until every fiber of yarn is completely saturated. Then I like to take a slick, wet hand and really lather the glue in. I feel this helps to further make sure there's adequate glue coverage. And now we wait a day or two.
After the glue has had ample time to dry, we begin to remove the tufting cloth from the tufting frame and start the latter half of the rug making process.
With the rug laid glue side up on a flat surface, I will trim off the excess cloth. I like to leave about a three inch border of tufting cloth, so that it can be folded over and hot glued down to the back side. I then use scissors to cut the cloth into chunks that are about 4 to 5 inches wide. I then use a hot glue gun and apply an ample amount of glue to each chunk. Then carefully and safely, I fold the piece over, pulling with a slight amount of force. This is done so that the edge of the rug will roll over slightly and give a more visually pleasing edge. Once all the pieces of cloth have been glued down, and I am happy with the outcome, we need to cut a piece of backing material.
The backing material is laid out the same way as the tufting cloth was at the very start. I place the nearly finished rug onto the backing material and trim around it loosely with scissors. Then its just a matter of peeling up one half at a time, soaking both the back of the rug and backing material with spray adhesive, and firmly pressing the two parts together.
After giving the rug a few minutes to dry, I once again grab the scissors and trim off all the excess, overhanging backing material. From this point all that needs to be done is a final rug shearing. I have a jig that very much comes in handy. The jig locks the rug shears into place to ensure an even height throughout the rug. I start to shear row after row of the rug. Much like cutting the lawn. Taking it slower when resistance is felt. Once the rug is at a uniform height all that's left to do is hone in some of the lines. This can be done with scissors or the shears.
And after a whole lot of vacuuming, and a few more passes with the shears... And more vacuuming, and more shearing... The rug is finally finished! So I hope you've learned something and enjoyed this video and in-depth breakdown of all that goes into making a DIY rug.
Sidenote:
I've always enjoyed the visual arts so when I saw rug tufting for the first time, I knew I had to try it. From here on, I plan to continue making art showcase and tutorial videos of all things rug tufting. Hoping to continue getting better, and more goofy with it. If that's something you're interested in, feel free to subscribe!
-Michael

[@kushforlunch]

Gives me the feeling of welding without the sparks, new sub

[@Ahmed-me5nu]

My first video, didn't read the channel's name and laughed out loud when he said "welcome to high on rugs". Great video

[@FosterChicken]

THIS! This looks amazing. Now I want to make one!

[@kushforlunch]

Nice vlog, I def didn't realize how complex tufting is. Just finished my first rug its bad but its good lol

[@jamiecarr4438]

IMHO I agree no seeds but still great job

[@rlhagemann]

Here’s an idea. Maybe make the brown part the loop style . Then it will have a seed like texture.

[@peggywernecke1943]

Dude, that is gorgeous!!! Great job!!! 👏🏻

[@Nithmeia]

the seeds are a cute touch imo

[@connietaylor7809]

Nice rug! If this was only your 5th rug and was this good, can’t wait to see your 10th!! New Subbie🎉

[@BrandonB]

Solid video man! Rug came out good too!

[@omocat4944]

IMMA BEAUTIFUL SUNFLOWER. 🤡🌻

[@emrsdca]

Fantastic job! Looks great inside!

[@NolBrenda79]

Hello I love you job

[@christieintexas2001]

That's so pretty!!! Great job, it looks awesome.

[@fernandaguardado7137]

Hermoso girasol! Y un excelente trabajo. Muchas felicidades

[@jamesrakestraw7125]

You did a good job. Do you have a list of needs to make a rug?

[@leahronise9983]

GREAT JOB!!!!!!

[@sebastiendecamps706]

Sublime, splendide

[@cat9lives999]

Beautiful!

[@cab102361]

Stunning I’d love to create that

[@laestrentini21]

Nice job! This rug looks fantastic!! Good video btw, just got a new subscriber

[@susanavazquez1784]

Me encantó ese diseño!

[@antoniovictor8697]

Proyector👍

[@user-kd4nm6jl6r]

Спасибо- очень красиво❤️ Подписалась

[@Fenix-vn5vd]

Lindo 👏👏👏👏

[@Donquijote007]

Hello sir , how much it can cost? Thank you

[@LI3TOM3]

there are some imager u do not need to flip ,your getting better mate :)

[@enzo198323]

wow nice!! ok quick question? How much velocity do you use on the tufting gun?

[@idadejesus931]

First time watching wow it turned out beautiful where would they sell the the rug tool ? Thank you

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

I got mine from tuft-love.com Works really well so far

[@profuy.]

How do you know which one is the right side of the fabric? Thanks.

[@caribfacesassi3544]

Where can i get this machine to buy though?

[@aishamohammed7406]

Beautiful 😍 what kind of gun you use please

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

I believe they called it the “Spider” from tuft-love

[@aishamohammed7406]

@@HighOnRugsMichael thank you so much ☺️

[@Mimilu1993]

How long does it take you to finish the rug? Total.thank you

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

Getting quicker with more practice, but this one in particular I would say took somewhere around 8 to 10 hours in total

[@kellyjandera8678]

👍👍👍👍💖💖💖💖

[@Corneelius]

How can you tell which is the right or wrong side? Is there like a texture difference??

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

It depends on which brand of tufting cloth. Some will have a texture difference, but most are the same on both sides and it doesn’t matter which side you use.

[@iamallaboutfood7242]

In this case, the good side is where he put the cloth on from. As you have to push the gun in when you are tufting, if you tuft from the otherwise, you can push the cloth off the frame. So you have to draw your design on that side as well otherwise you won't see

[@user-hs9iu7gk8w]

What threads do you use?

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

Its 100% acrylic yarn.

[@submarineattack]

What is that tool you use it looks like alot of fun.

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

Its called a Tufting Gun. There's a few websites that sell them but I got mine from tuft-love.com

[@alzaim9]

Hi, what kind of thread do you use?

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

Pretty much everything I use is 100% acrylic yarn

[@alzaim9]

@@HighOnRugsMichael They told me that acrylic threads affect the tufting cutter and that it must be toothed or we need to change it after a while, and they told me that the best threads are natural wool or wool with acrylic only. Is this correct?

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

@@alzaim9 I haven’t heard anything about the acrylic causing wear to the tufting gun, so I’m not sure about that. But I have heard that wool yarn is the best in terms of feel. I’m just using acrylic for now because it’s much cheaper and still feels quite nice. But I’m still relatively new to this as well, so I’m sure I’ll know more as time goes on.

[@alzaim9]

@@HighOnRugsMichael Thank you very much

[@alzaim9]

@@HighOnRugsMichael Does the use of velvet yarn harm the tufting cutter?!

[@caribfacesassi3544]

Nice work but y not use the rug plastic so it can be washed instead of gluing it down

[@iamallaboutfood7242]

Glue is always needed whatever other thing is put on the top of it afterwards. It's the glue that holds the threads in, otherwise the threads would come out.

[@oshvanhaaren5553]

what are the measurements in cm?

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

I cut the cloth about 100 x 100cm. Not sure what the finished rug measured exactly, and I don't have it with me anymore so unfortunately I can't measure it now.

[@WobblesandBean]

Please, I need to know how to gain access to a tufting machine, or ask you to do a commission for me. Do you accept commissions?

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

Sadly not at the moment. I’m still working full time, so I just don’t have the time to do commissions, but if I can make this my full time job then I’d be very happy to take commissions. I got my tufting gun from tuft-love.com about six months ago now. So far it’s been great and hasn’t had any issues.

[@queenofkvetch2940]

Amazing job! Glad to see the latest project! Don't get a lot of time between running my simrace team, but your passion is infectious and something that is great to see.

[@HighOnRugsMichael]

Thank you so much :)