I’ve always been a sucker for DIY trends on Instagram. I honestly could not tell you the number of polymer clay jewelry(opens in a new tab) accounts I’ve followed after seeing them on my Explore page, but it's a lot. Lately, though, my Instagram Explore page has been filled with another type of craft: colorful tufted rugs.

I got into tufted rugs after Taylor Roberts, social editor for The Cut and proprietor of one of my favorite Instagram accounts, posted photos of her room(opens in a new tab) featuring a psychedelic pink, red, and yellow rug. She tagged the creator, Mai Ohana(opens in a new tab), whom I followed immediately. Instagram's algorithm took it from there.

A pandemic hobby takes off

During the pandemic, plenty of people tried (and are still trying) new hobbies(opens in a new tab). For people who wanted to work with their hands, rug making was a natural choice, and before long, the rug-making scene exploded on Instagram and TikTok.

In August 2020, a Vice story about rug TikTok(opens in a new tab) cited that the hashtags #rugtiktok(opens in a new tab), #rugmaking(opens in a new tab), and #tufttheworld(opens in a new tab) had accumulated a total of 17.7 million views on the platform. As of May 2021, those hashtags had even more views — 569.6 million.

“I think that it's the kind of thing where people are home, they don't have much to do, and I think that interior design as a whole has boomed.” Mai Ohana said in an interview. “And I do think every couple of years, there's a craft boom that happens where people get really into something, whether it's macrame, weaving, embroidery."

Part of why rug makers have found success recently: Trend-conscious consumers are taking a more maximalist approach(opens in a new tab) to decor. A plain white room with a single plant in the corner is increasingly uncool: In its place are chaotic gallery walls, shelves full of knick knacks, and colorful rugs.

But people seeking maximalist rugs might have trouble at major retailers. Places like Wayfair(opens in a new tab) and Target(opens in a new tab), which carry a lot of basic rugs, aren’t necessarily up to speed with the trend. Without a mainstream site to purchase bold floor accents, rug-seekers are forced to shop small. (Consumers who buy from small makers also know exactly who is making their product — there's significantly less supply chain uncertainty.)

“I'm a maximalist and I like clashing patterns. I want color and it's really hard to find [colorful] pieces for your house,” AJ Peterson, creator of the handmade rug brand Magic Carpets(opens in a new tab), said in an interview. “So I think that was another reason why this medium has just been so expansive and has felt so good to me ... I get to create stuff that I want in my house that I can refine.”

How it works

There are a few ways to make a rug by hand. Latch hooks(opens in a new tab) and punch needles(opens in a new tab) are very manual, creating one loop at a time. These methods are relatively affordable, but it'll take quite a bit of time to finish a full-sized rug — we’re talking multiple days or weeks for one rug, depending on size.

The method you’ve probably seen on TikTok or Instagram is rug making with a tufting gun. You know those oddly satisfying videos of yarn being punched through a cloth, rapid-fire? Those makers are using tufting guns.

Tufting is significantly faster than other methods. With a gun, smaller rugs can be tufted in just a few hours. The caveat: Tufting guns are not cheap. On Tuftinggun.com(opens in a new tab), a popular tufting site run by textiles artist Tim Eads (he also runs the tufting forum Tuft the World(opens in a new tab)), the cheapest one costs $275.

But that hasn't stopped people from buying them. From the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021, Eads said he saw his business’s sales grow more than 600 percent.

Rug making with a tufting machine is not something you can pull off on the fly in a small bedroom. You'll need a frame to stretch out your tufting cloth, and unless you’re making a small wall hanging or bath mat-sized rug, you’re going to need a large enough space to stretch that cloth out.

Using a tufting gun also takes some trial and error. Ohana’s first rug was “a whole mess,” she said — she accidentally put a hole in it. She tells people the first rug is just for playing around and figuring out what you’re doing. Don’t expect it to be perfect and don’t use the nicest yarn you have. Wielding a tufting gun also takes more physical exertion than you might think. You’ve got to put your whole body into it — it’s not quite like a real gun, but it does have some kick behind it. You might get gnarly blisters and calluses on your hands from gripping the machine.

The amount of time that goes into making a rug varies, especially depending on the rug's size. In general, though, you'll follow the same steps: Finalize your design, trace the design onto stretched tufting cloth (and make sure it’s backwards because you’ll be tufting from the back side), fill in the design using the tufting machine, glue the back, cut it down to size, add backing, and trim the fibers.

Watch Peterson create one of her rugs:

Building a following

Each of the rug makers I spoke with said that their businesses would not exist without social media. However, most of them — with the exception of Simone Elizabeth Saunders(opens in a new tab) — didn't anticipate that they'd end up turning rug making into a business. They just wanted to create cool rugs for themselves. 

These creators started posting their work on their social channels as hobbyists. From there, they built large, loyal followings of people, many of whom reached out wanting to buy their rugs.

Plenty of people have turned hobbies into side hustles(opens in a new tab) during the pandemic, whether due to extra free time or financial necessity. Hobbies that result in tangible products can be especially lucrative — fans and followers can buy an actual product for their homes.

While sites like Etsy and Amazon allow creators to sell their products, rug businesses thrive uniquely on Instagram. Because small rug-making businesses are likely one-person operations, they can’t pump out a bunch of products. So selling small batches — or taking individual commissions — makes the most sense. (Fans who want a handmade rug for themselves will also have to keep a close eye on their favorite sellers so they don’t miss their opportunity to buy.)

It’s easier to find creators on Instagram than through individual websites, and makers can grow their followings organically or through paid ads on the platform. And fans tend to seek out Instagram accounts if they see rugs on a different social platform.

“If I have a video do really well on TikTok, then it'll transfer to my Instagram and I'll get a lot of messages and a lot more followers,” Ohana said. “But it doesn’t really go the other way. Like, no one from Instagram goes to your TikTok.” (It's best for would-be buyers to end up on Instagram anyway, since it's optimized for shopping.)

I spoke with Mai Ohana, AJ Peterson, Madison Koster, Jacob Winter, Simone Elizabeth Saunders, and Trinity Leon who have all found success turning tufting into a business.

Mai Ohana(opens in a new tab)

Creator: Mai Ohana

Based in: New York City

Where to shop: Instagram(opens in a new tab)

Mai Ohana was into rug making even before the pandemic hit. About two years ago, she said, she saw a video of someone using a tufting gun and thought, “Oh, I need this.” She was working at a paper studio at the time, so she was no stranger to crafts.

Tufting wasn't as big of a social media phenomenon then, but Ohana managed to find a niche community on Instagram where she and others would ask each other where they got their yarn, how often they were cleaning their guns, and more.

“You can buy the tufting manual, but it doesn't tell you everything.” Ohana said. “You know, like how to make a cool rug is not in there.”

Ohana believes that having a personal, unique style is what makes a successful artist, which comes through clearly in her work. She pulls inspiration from Memphis design(opens in a new tab) and ‘70s and ‘80s furniture, and she favors bold geometric patterns.

Though Ohana said she got into TikTok “embarrassingly early,” she didn’t start posting her own content until she saw other people posting videos of themselves making rugs. But even though she wasn’t first to the trend, she didn’t get lost to the algorithm. When one of her TikToks(opens in a new tab) does well, she sees an influx of followers and messages on Instagram.

“I think if you just have your own personal style that people haven't seen before, they appreciate that regardless of if you're new or a little too late to the party,” Ohana said.

Ohana welcomes others into rug making and doesn’t get annoyed by people hopping on the bandwagon.

“I feel like there are people who are mad about the amount of people(opens in a new tab) who are making rugs,” she said. “And I'm like, you know, let them do it. Like, fiber art has been dying — it's going extinct. So if you have young people who are excited about yarn and crafting, like, great... it’s awesome.”

To sell her rugs, Ohana occasionally takes commissions on Instagram. However, she's currently focusing on making products for her upcoming website. She wasn’t expecting her products to be so in demand, she said, and she feels like she’s doing a disservice to her customer base by not having a site where she can display her creations to the public with transparent pricing.

Ohana’s favorite part of rug making is seeing the finished product: knowing that she started with a pile of yarn and made a piece that “someone will live on, around, and with.” Ultimately, she said, her goal is to allow as many people as possible to have a piece of her art in their home, whether that’s a rug or something smaller and more affordable. 

Magic Carpets(opens in a new tab)

Creator: AJ Peterson

Based in: Los Angeles

Where to shop: magiccarpets.co(opens in a new tab)

AJ Peterson has found a niche in teaching rug making to beginners. Her YouTube channel(opens in a new tab) has more than 28,000 subscribers and is full of tufting tips and troubleshooting. Her TikTok(opens in a new tab), which has over 11,400 followers, also houses plenty of informational videos and satisfying timelapses.

Like Ohana, she doesn’t see other tufters as competition — even if the rug market feels saturated.

“It might seem like there’s a huge boom, obviously, like a bunch of people are tufting right now,” Peterson said. “But, that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s more competition because there will always be someone who wants a cool, custom rug.”

A single tufter can only make so many pieces, she said, and everyone has their own unique style. It’s not a highly competitive industry in that sense.

Peterson describes her style as childlike, magical, and psychedelic. "It's like retro Disney Fantasy on magic mushrooms or something," she said.

She also said that people have told her that her rugs make them feel nostalgic. "And I love that," she added. "Like, something for your inner child, you know?"

Peterson said that having a creative side business has always appealed to her, but that she didn’t go into rug making with the intention of starting a business because she was hesitant to put pressure on herself. That changed quickly: Shortly after she purchased her tufting gun, Peterson lost her job, which was “kind of this serendipitous blessing in disguise,” she said. The change gave her a few months to tuft full-time, learn the craft, and sell a few of her pieces.

Peterson is very protective of tufting and wants to keep it enjoyable for herself. That’s partially why she doesn’t take commissions. If she did start taking commissions, she explained, she’d want to be particular about designs and retain creative freedom.

“I’m afraid that I’ll have to make something that I’m not super stoked on,” Peterson said. “So, I’ve just kind of put it off for now because I haven’t really figured out how to find a balance of what I want to do and then also incorporating someone else’s ideas.”

Peterson would also like to see the educational side of her business grow. In the future, she hopes to host workshops where people can learn how to tuft without having to make huge investments in materials.

Mooju Rugs(opens in a new tab)

Creator: Madison Koster

Based in: Detroit

Where to shop: moojurugs.com(opens in a new tab)

Madison Koster tried out a few different pandemic hobbies before landing on rug making.

She tried crocheting and knitting, but she wasn’t great at either, she said. Then she bought a latch hook kit at Joann Fabrics, but she found the process tedious. So she turned to Google, and when she came across tufting guns she impulse-bought one.

Her brand, Mooju Rugs, has a signature groovy look that originated with Koster's search for a rug for her own home. She describes her home’s theme as "very ‘60s and ‘70s style," and the only rug she could find that felt right was an actual vintage rug from the ‘60s. Unfortunately, that particular Etsy find had stains on it and was really expensive. So Koster decided to make her own.

As her brand has grown, Koster has dealt with people trying to rip off her designs and aesthetic. She says it’s something that creators have to deal with.

“So the point I'm at right now is trying to still stay relevant and still have my own designs, because I'm actually an artist myself,” Koster said. (Koster studied photography and advertising, which she feels gives her an advantage when it comes to marketing.)

Koster makes several signature pieces, including roller skate rugs and flower mirrors. Some of her creations, like the mirrors, are not meant to be placed on the floor and walked on — they’re intended to be hanging pieces. (The concept of tapestry art(opens in a new tab), of course, is hundreds of years old.)

“A lot of people expect rugs to only be on the floor,” Koster said. “And I think a cool thing is kind of turning that on its head, and really doing something different with that. Which I think is something that's been really fun with the flower mirrors, specifically.”

The Mooju Rugs Instagram account(opens in a new tab) has more than 33,000 followers. Because of the sheer number of people seeing Koster's work, the demand for her designs has gotten so great that she can’t keep up. That means, she said, that she’s had to focus more on fulfilling orders than being innovative and trying new things.

She has taken time, however, to put together a psychedelic rug line, which dropped April 14. For this line, she pulled inspiration from Twiggy, as well as mod fashion and interior design, she explained. “A lot of my inspiration just comes from very, like, nostalgic vintage,” Koster said.

Koster plans on doing even more themed collections in the future — she’s been playing with the idea of a Western theme to match her cow print flower hangings. At the end of the day, she said, she wants to be a designer, not just someone replicating the same rugs over and over.

Simone Elizabeth Textiles(opens in a new tab)

Creator: Simone Elizabeth Saunders

Based in: Calgary, Alberta

Where to shop: simoneelizabeth.ca(opens in a new tab)

Simone Elizabeth Saunders’s rugs aren’t meant for the floor: She creates tufted art pieces designed to be displayed on the wall. In an interview, Saunders explained that she incorporates her Black heritage and culture into her pieces, and many of them are portraits. So they are never to be stepped on.

Saunders’s culture is “absolutely integral” to her work, she said. Her theater background also influences her art, she said, because her pieces tend to be narrative in nature, telling the stories of their subjects at a particular moment in time.

“My style is very enticing. It’s very enigmatic, it’s vibrant, I use as many colors as I can,” Saunders said. “And that as well is a part of my heritage, you know, that tropical, rich, vibrant history.”

When Saunders started tufting around two years ago, she was all-in from the start. In fact, she had visualized the practice being her "10,000 hours." (Author Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that it takes 10,000 hours(opens in a new tab) to master a skill.)

At the time, she was in art school (she’s since graduated with a degree in fiber) and there wasn’t a lot of information out there to help her study the craft. Even her school didn’t have the resources she was looking for. So, she researched on her own, started with a punch needle, and watched manufacturing videos from China and India to learn how to use her tufting gun.

When creating a piece, Saunders gives herself room to explore. She does map out the main idea and design, but she goes into tufting with little inhibition and allows herself to play around as she goes.

“I give myself room for a lot of play because I never know where my mood or, you know, what the atmosphere is going to be day to day.” Saunders said. “And I like for [those things] to inform me.”

As she tufts, Saunders likes to listen to audiobooks from authors like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker to pull inspiration. She draws from pop culture and her own family’s personal history and stories as well.

“I'm very much in touch with the sociopolitical landscape of our time, right?” Saunders said. “And so I draw from a lot — not even from specific narratives, but just from the overall sentiment and emotion of our time.”

In 2020, Saunders won the Bank of Montreal’s 1st Art! competition(opens in a new tab) with her piece “It Matters,” which depicts a Black man wearing a mask with the text “Black lives matter” behind him.

“I was thinking a lot about marginalized communities within the start of the pandemic, and how they were not being afforded the equitable care that [they deserved],” Saunders said.

Saunders remembers seeing stories of Black men being profiled by security guards(opens in a new tab) at stores when the world was first starting to wear masks, “because there was just this automatic racist notion being put onto them that they were gang members,” Saunders said.

“And it was just infuriating,” she said. “For me to read that and to discover and, yeah, so that was what this piece encapsulated.”

Saunders is currently focusing on creating pieces that she wants to make and that showcase her voice. She doesn’t take commissions, but she works with a gallerist to exhibit her pieces. Saunders also added that she has some exciting projects coming up… but those are under wraps for now.

Mush Studios(opens in a new tab)

Creator: Jacob Winter

Based in: New York City

Where to shop: mushstudios.co(opens in a new tab)

Mush Studios might be a small business now, but its founder, Jacob Winter, has big plans for the brand.

Winter started tufting in June 2020 after seeing a few of Tim Eads's videos on TikTok. He started Mush in November of the same year.

Winter went to school for business and marketing, but didn’t necessarily plan for tufting to be a business venture. He now runs Mush with assistance from his boyfriend, Franki Peroff, and an additional helper, Trevor Padoll. Winter’s even racked up millions of views on his own tufting TikToks(opens in a new tab).

Mush Studios’s name comes from the actual feeling of mush or mushiness. Winter likes for his rugs to have unique textural elements — some of his rugs, for example, almost resemble slime dripping through fingers. He tries to capture a sense of otherworldliness in his creations, he said, as well as the feeling of being a child. Sources of inspiration have included nail art, tattoos, and Winter's own daydreams about his ideal rooms.

Winter said he doesn’t want Mush to just be trendy — he wants it to be timeless. And he thinks that approach sets his brand apart.

“We definitely don't look at [our art] as a trend, but rather as something that you're gonna buy that should be worth someone's money and that will stay forever and that has quality,” he explained.

Winter does do commissions and wholesale (i.e. selling in bulk at discounted rates), but there are a few other ways to get a Mush original in your home. Winter works on collections that he releases in drops, and he also offers a selection of custom Mush rugs(opens in a new tab) that customers can personalize with their own color choices. To reduce waste, Winter fills every open space on his tufting frame and uses up leftover yarn by creating “minis(opens in a new tab),” which are smaller, more decorative takes on his designs. Those drop every other Friday on the Mush site.

Winter was a college student and worked at a clothing store before the pandemic hit. Now, Mush is his full-time job. In the future, he plans on expanding it into a full-on design house, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean making and designing rugs. (He’s already on his way there. Mush was tapped to create custom rugs for Frankies Bikinis(opens in a new tab), which are currently displayed at popups in LA and Montauk.) Winter also hopes to collaborate with other artists, as well as create other home goods like vases and glassware.

“I just hope I can do that one day — to be able to create whatever I want,” Winter said.

Rugs by Trin(opens in a new tab)

Creator: Trinity Leon

Based in: Toronto

Where to shop: Instagram(opens in a new tab)

If you visit the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in Toronto, you might see Trinity Leon’s work. She collaborated with the exhibit to create a line of Van Gogh-inspired rugs, including one inspired by “Starry Night.”

Leon’s other work is super varied, though she does enjoy making rugs of album covers or anything to do with music and movies. In March 2021, she debuted a flattened Squidward rug that went viral on Twitter(opens in a new tab), and she’s since made more to actually sell. Other than that, she mostly just makes what she wants or what other people commission her to make, she said.

Leon also makes smaller coasters and totes. For the most part, her work is commission-based, but she’d like to take time off to make her own designs and put them out for people to see, she said.

Leon is currently a university student, and in March 2020 she lost her part-time job at the mall because of the pandemic. At that point, she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to pay for school. But then she started making rugs and invested in a tufting gun.

“It was kind of a risk because I didn't have a job and I was spending all this money on the gun,” Leon said. “But thankfully, a lot of people wanted to order and now this is how I pay for school. So, it's kind of cool that this is like my job now.”

After she graduates, Leon’s not sure what her rug-making business will look like. If she gets a job or internship, she might not have time to tuft as actively as she wants. She does think she’ll continue no matter what, because it’s fun for her and she doesn’t mind spending her weekends making rugs for people.

“My favorite thing is seeing my work in other people’s spaces and how they style it.” Leon said. “That’s why I love when people send me photos of where they put it because the way people style the rug in a space is different every time… And just the fact that people have my work in their space just makes me really happy.”