bind your own custom carpet

After we tore out our old carpet we knew it would be a while before we put down new flooring. (It's been a year, but we have the bamboo floors now and are getting ready to put them in!!) So we bought a carpet remnant with the thought of having it bound into a rug. After calling around we found out that binding it would be $3-4 a linear foot. Our 12x12 piece of carpet would cost around $150 or more just to bind it. After doing some searching, I found a diy carpet binding product, Instabind. I got it for only $50 for 50 linear feet. There's even a handy how-to video.  

First cut your carpet to fit your space. We cut the carpet to match the angles of the window for a more custom look.

If you have a bunch of strings and threads hanging off like this, then cut them all off so you have a nice, clean edge.

The video shows you how to start and finish the binding. I forgot about that and didn't do what they said to give it a nice clean seam from the start point to finish point. But I also started at a point that would be under the couch so it's fine. Don't start at a corner. Working with a few feet at a time, take the paper backing off and start to position the binding on the back of the carpet. You can reposition until it's just right.

 

 You don't want your carpet all the way against the edging of the binding. You need a little space to add your hot glue. I liked having a generous 1/8 inch between the two.

 After squeezing in the hot glue, push/roll the binding to the edge of the carpet. If you added too much glue, it might squeeze out and burn you and you may do this over and over again and end up with several blisters on your fingers. Don't do that. Once you push them together, hold it for 30 seconds or so. Once you let go, the binding may pull the edge of the carpet and leave gaps in the carpet. I was worried it was going to just look horrible with the gaps, but it wasn't really an issue by the time I finished.

 The video covers how you do the corners as well and I had no issues with the corners or the other angled edges I had.

What the back of the corner looks like. You just cut the back of the binding up to the edge and roll the binding around the corner, gluing as you go. For sure don't cut the binding all the way through, you want the binding to be continuous around the corner, not a seam.

 Finished! I like the idea of being able to make your own custom rug.  The remnant was big and a nicer quality so we ended up spending around $250 including the binding. But I often see remnants for less than $100. I think it'll look so much better on hardwood instead of concrete. Maybe. :-)