Also, you can check with carpet stores. Often, they will bind a remnant for you and you can get great prices. Don't be hesitant to ask-they do it all the time!

I've done this a couple of times, usually at some carpet outlet type place. Works great, but you do want to make sure they do a decent job of binding the carpet--I've always had it done by the place I bought the carpeting. You can also buy remnants pretty cheaply and do the same thing.

Some people DIY it with Instabind, but I've not done that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Instabind

I have checked the carpet store near my house, but the only remnants they seemed to have looked cheapo and ugly.

Maybe I could try some other places. It just seems like I can't really afford a good (pre-made) area rug right now.

If you arent in a hurry, you could keep checking on craig's list in your area and get an area rug for a good price.

We used bound remnants in every home we lived in until we moved into our current house and even here, we started with it till we could afford area rugs. I'm getting ready to buy rugs for the beach house and decided to do the same there. We will be binding wool sisal rugs. It's less expensive and I like the look too.

Thanks for the suggestion, Roseabbey, but my taste is so specific, I doubt that will happen. I also find the New Orleans area Clist woefully lacking. I've never found anything good on there. Guess I need to check more frequently.

I have done this a number of times. One time the rug was actually serged on the edge with matching yarn rather than bound with cloth tape. I really liked the serging, but I don't think most places do that as an option.

In two houses, I ordered broadloom (not remnant) for two rooms & had it bound, from a small, local flooring store. I've enjoyed them, & the bindings have held up well - no fraying from the vacuum power head.

I've seen some where the binding is a different, accent color. You could even consider the flat binding commonly used on grass rugs; that's good-looking too.

$60 to bind seems like a VERY good price.

I had a bound broadloom done too. Get a price for the binding though-- the price varied dramatically, and for a 10 x 10, it was about $100 extra. Some stores were as high as $5 a linear foot for the binding. The nice thing about it is that you can one to your exact measurements, plus if it's less than 12 (or 13') wide, you get the extra, which you can use for a runner or other rug (although you'll have to pay for binding for that too).

You can have many effects with bound broadloom. A narrow band, a wide band of a solid or patterned fabric, square or mitered corners, fringe, etc. Here are some examples:

yes I have. Broadloom is not ment for an area rug. The edges will buckle up and create a tripping hazzard. Sorry but you probabvly wasted your money