How much yarn do I need to tuft a rug?

February 20, 2026

The amount of yarn needed to create a rug depends on the size of your project, how close together your tufted lines are, how tight the tufted strands are, the height of the pile, and the type and thickness of the yarn you're tufting with.  

For example, if you’re feeding two strands of yarn into an AK-I Cut-Pile Machine set to produce a 12 mm pile (about ½ inch), you will use approximately 8 ounces of yarn to tuft a square foot. Since our Reflect yarn comes in 16 ounce (1 lb.) increments, this means, with two cones of yarn on your yarn feeder, you’d be able to tuft about four square feet (or 60 cm x 60 cm) before running out of both cones. 

Thinner yarns might require tufting with three, four, or even five strands at a time in order to create a plush pile. This means either building a yarn feeder that can accommodate a yarn cone for every strand you plan to tuft with, OR rewinding your yarn to wrap multiple strands of yarn around a single cone using a yarn winder. 

When planning your rug and purchasing yarn, it’s always best to have too much of a color than to run out mid-project (and extra yarn is helpful for compensating for mistakes). If you’re tufting with our Reflect Eco-cotton, bear in mind that, because it’s made using available recycled cotton, colors are occasionally discontinued or may vary slightly between orders.

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