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Pre-Printed Hessian

Take the Stress Out of Rag Rug Design!

If you’ve ever wanted to make a rag rug but felt unsure about designing your own pattern, our pre-printed rag rug hessian is here to make life easy.

Hessian (also known as burlap) is the most traditional rag rug backing fabric. It’s what you pull your strips of fabric through to make a rug. At Ragged Life, we’ve taken that plain hessian and given it a makeover – pre-printing it with simple, yet satisfying designs and hemming the edges so you can get started straight away. No sewing needed, no sketching required. Just the fun part: rag rugging!

Why Choose Pre-Printed Hessian?

Stress-Free - The design is already laid out for you, so no need to worry about what will look good - we've done the work for you!

Easy to Visualise - Take inspiration from Ragged Life and students' versions of the same design to get your creative juices flowing.

Perfect for Beginners - Breaks a big rug into smaller, manageable sections.

Expert-Approved - Made with our medium weave 10HPI hessian (the same backing we use for all Ragged Life projects).

Pre-Hemmed - The edges are secured, so you can start rag rugging straight away.

Our pre-printed hessian works with all the classic British rag rug techniques:

And even locker hooking!

Pre-printed lantern hessian base hemmed for rag rug making

Past Rag Rug Designs We’ve Enjoyed

Over the years, we’ve launched a handful of limited edition designs that have become firm favourites with our rag rug students. A couple of our favourites include our:

  • Lantern Pre-Printed Hessian – a bold, graphic motif that was a super fun paint-by-numbers project. We made samplers in the short shaggy and rug hooked / loopy techniques.
  • Spiral Pre-Printed Hessian – a swirling design perfect for using up scraps. We were so impressed by all the different versions of this iconic design.

Even though everyone starts with the same pattern, no two rugs ever turn out the same. Your choice of fabric and colours makes it uniquely yours.

Handmade lantern rag rug by Ragged Life made using woollen blanket selvedges
Beige hessian runner with white geometric lantern pattern on a textured white surface
Handmade lantern rag rug by Ragged Life made using woollen blanket selvedges
A large piece of beige hessian with a pre-printed spiral design.
Colourful large rag rug with a vibrant pattern on grass

And below are a few inspiring versions of those same pre-printed designs made by our wonderful rag rug students...

You can see a mixture of the rug hooked and short shaggy techniques displayed in the rug designs below.

Green and yellow short shaggy rag rugged doormat with sunflower design on a carpeted floor
Close-up of a textured rag rugging in mixed fabric offcuts with blue and beige patterns
Two dogs on a blue and black patterned rag rug in a living room with a blue sofa.
Colorful rainbow spiral design rag rug with a geometric pattern on a wooden floor
Two people holding up colorful handmade rugs in front of a wooden wall.
Colorful floral-patterned rug on a concrete floor outside a building.
Multicolored shaggy rug on a carpeted floor next to a pink couch and wooden coffee table.
Wildflower Meadow Design Floral patterned rug hooked rag rug on a wooden floor with a blue background and autumn coloured flowers
Pre-printed hessian fabric with floral pattern and text overlay

New Design: Flower Power Rug

In autumn 2025, we launched our brand-new Flower Power Pre-Printed Hessian – a 140 x 100cm floral design inspired by vintage embroidery.

This cheerful pattern is perfect for both beginners and seasoned rag ruggers. You can take it one flower at a time, building up the design in small, satisfying chunks and chop and change colour if you get bored.

We used the loopy, hooked technique to fill our hessian, but this design would look equally as good in the short shaggy style.

Thinking of giving this design a go? We recommend starting with the leaves, moving onto the flower centres, then the petals, before filling in the background.

Flower Power Pre-Printed Rag Rug Hessian / Burlap design for beginners with floral motif and leaves

Want the Fabric Too?

Our Woollen Blanket Yarn version of the Flower Power Rug was so popular that we decided to offer a Fully Wool Flower Power Rug bundle which includes all the fabric needed to make the rug.

This set includes the same 140 x 100cm pre-printed Flower Power hessian, as well as ten 250g balls of Ragged Life 100% Wool Blanket Yarn – enough to complete the entire rug. C

Visit the Flower Power product listing for more details or browse Blanket Yarns here to plan your palette.

Flower power rug bundle with woollen blanket yarn on a white background

Other Upcoming Designs

Flower Power is just the start of this season’s pre-printed hessian range. We’ve got a couple more embroidery-inspired designs, as well as festive makes, smaller projects, rag-rug-a-longs and much more.

So keep your eyes peeled and sign up to our Ragged Life Newsletter to be the first to know when new projects hit the online shop.

Three rug hooked Christmas ornaments on a white background

FAQs

Can I use my own fabric with your pre-printed hessian?

Absolutely! Pre-printed hessian is a great way to use up old clothing and textiles you already have at home. You can see how to prepare materials to make a rag rug on our YouTube channel.

Do I need to hem the edges myself?

Nope – all our pre-printed hessian comes pre-hemmed so you can get stuck in right away.

What tools do I need?

You can use a rag rug hook, spring tool, latch hook or locker hook with this hessian. Shop our tools here.

Is this suitable for beginners?

Yes! Pre-printed hessian is especially popular with beginners as it takes away the fear of designing from scratch.

Decorative doormat with floral pattern on a tiled floor

Top Tips for Beginners

1) Do not rag rug on the printed white lines themselves as they are hard to get your tools through. The pile of the rag rugging will cover them up.

2) Ideally rag rug shapes from the outside inwards one row at a time. This means that if you run out of fabric, it looks like a deliberate design choice rather than a mistake.

3) Successful rag rug designs have some contrast. Make sure that the main design features are visible against the background colour.

4 Plain colours stand out stronger than patterned fabrics.

5) With the shaggy and short shaggy techniques, do not rag rug through the hem itself as it will get covered by the fabric pieces. For the loopy, rug hooked style either rag rug one row through the hem itself to cover it, or sew bias binding over the hem before you begin rag rugging to hide it or turn the hem under and stitch it in on the underside of the rug at the end of the project.

Wildflower Meadow Design Floral patterned rug hooked rag rug on a wooden floor with a blue background and autumn coloured flowers

Prefer to start your rag rug project in person?

We teach half day and full day rag rug classes in various venues across the country, including Hertfordshire, Brighton, York, London, the Lake District, Essex and more. Read more about our British Rag Rug Techniques Class for Beginners below and browse dates by clicking through.

British Rag Rugging - Full Day Class

Curious about rag rug making but not sure where to begin? Our British Rag Rug Techniques Class for Beginners is the perfect place to start.

Over the course of the day, you’ll learn the three main techniques we use to make rag rugs here in the UK – shaggy (proggy), short shaggy, and loopy (hooked). In the morning, we’ll take you step by step through preparing your fabric, using the tools, and learning the techniques, with plenty of tips and tricks along the way, and in the afternoon you can begin a project of your choice - a mat, cushion, wreath, bouquet, tote bag, draft excluder or more....

Tools and supplies are provided on the day, along with a wide choice of colourful fabric, so all you need to do is bring your enthusiasm and perhaps a packed lunch.

By the end of the class, you’ll have a beautiful piece of rag rug to take home (how complete it is depends on the project you've chosen to do), plus the skills and confidence to continue rag rugging on your own.

It’s a relaxed, sociable day packed with creativity, conversation, and the satisfaction of reviving a timeless British craft.