Making a floorcloth does not require many tools. In fact you may have many in your basic craft supplies.

Basic tools for creating a floorcloth hem: a good yardstick or straightedge, a right angle, a pencil, art gum eraser, scissors and commercial grade double stick carpet tape for a quick hem. Carpet tape is quite strong and is used to lay carpet. It makes a nice hem and is available at home improvement stores. If you choose Fredrix® Floorcloth Canvas you may skip the hem and cut to shape.

To create your floorcloth design you may choose a number of decorative techniques and many of those involve paint. You may use a variety of paints, however acrylics are the easiest for clean-up. The pre-mixed craft paints are nice for those that don't want to mix colors and they are ready to paint with right from the bottle. You can also use artist's acrylic paints from a tube or bottle, but you will probably need to use a clear medium or paint extender to thin them. If you use acrylic paints too thick, you may notice cracking later on in the process. If you have cans of latex paint left over from a previous project you may use that as well. Matte medium or paint conditioner are helpful for thinning paints, creating glazes or sealing masked lines. Matte medium is an acrylic polymer available at the art supply store. Paint conditioner is somewhat thinner and is available at a hardware paint store.

You may use many different types of brushes. Larger background work may require a wider brush. For decorative painting select brushes that feel comfortable to you and are suitable for acrylic paints.For starters you might choose a wide flat, soft rounds, long tails and stencil brushes. Foam brushes are very useful and come in different widths.

Look for other painting tools at your local art and craft store: rubber combing tools, paint erasers, sponge pouncers, rubber or foam stamps, precut stencils, paint pens, sponges and painter's masking tape. This will give you a broad selection of choices for your start-up tool kit. Each of these tools has something special to offer you and you can experiment with them for various effects.

You will also need basic painting supplies such as a water bucket, plastic lids or meat trays for paint mixing, paper towels, paint apron, etc.

For more information on each of these tools refer to The Complete Book of Floorcloths and Painting Floorcloths: 20 Canvas Rugs to Stamp, Stencil, Sponge & Spatter in a Weekend.