Rug designs are in the book 
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What's new in crochet ? You can make not rag rugs + home
accessories and hats and fashion chic I N E X P E N S I V E L Y
from old fabric scraps.
Watch a 2 minute How To videoMy SPECIAL CROCHET HOOK is a SHIRRING, CROCHETING
and TAPESTRY needle all in one. Originally from the 1920's and before
the Civil War, Shirret is all about saving resources, recycling, and thrift.
Fast and free DIY fabric scrap yarns easy with my simple method.
Recycle your old clothes. Easy HOW TO - by watching - VIDEO $5 OR
DVD $17 , by copying SAMPLE $7, by reading - $18.50 BOOK WITH
WRITTEN AND PICTURE INSTRUCTIONS AND PATTERNS or by kit.
"If everyone took this up, there'd be World Peace." –––Clo Davis, Boston
The only thing you buy again is CORD IN FASHION COLORS $6.50.
You can make stunning hats, gypsy carpetbag chic, & rich rag rugs."Do you crochet?"
"Yah, but who doesn't these days? It helps me think."
––Jola, sculptor, New Haven CT
PATTERNS & SPECIAL CROCHET HOOK
Shirret (shir-ray') combines shirring and crochet for a new word and a new
look in American needlecrafts. Shirret is the lively art of recycling "rags
into riches". Clean out your closets! Cut up your old clothes, faded curtains
and slipcovers, braiding, hooking, sewing and quilting leftovers, and make
shirret. You can turn out-of-fashion into the latest style with Shirret.
Shirret is a simple crochet technique with added fabric folds.
The step-by-step illustrated book and the basic equipment are permanent and inexpensive. Shirret is luxurious –– it feels extravagent –– yet it is made of recycled fabrics that cost nothing and preserve resources.
Old style plaids and prints and colors, seen on the edge, are disguised in new patterns!
A Word for It
"It developed out of the philosophy of 'Waste not, want not', explains Louise McCrady who combined the practical old American craft of shirring and a more creative technique that involves crocheting. As a result, she and her followers have been recycling their outgrown clothing, old jeans, faded draperies, old tablecloths and sewing scraps by Shirreting them into colorful rugs, chair pads, cushions and wallhangings.
STRIPS OF FABRIC 3/4" wide are threaded on a special needle to form shirred folds. Each fold is then slipped off and attached witha crochet stitch of cord. The finished piece is surprisingly velvety, lush - with a 3/4" pile - reversible, and filled with unexpectedly splashy patterns. "For instance, STRIPED FABRIC GIVES A MULTI-COLORED KALEIDOSCOPIC EFFECT , polka dot comes out tweedy, and plaids, SWIRLY." ––Boston Globe Sunday Magazine.
From a folk art rugmaking technique she learned from her mother as a girl, Louise McCrady of Connecticut has been creating a needlework movement for 30 years. She coined a word to describe it –– Shirrét !
Shirret is Easy
Shirret is a simple technique with THREE EASY STEPS .
1. Cut fabric into strips. Strips are not sewn together so tiny scraps of old or new fabric can be used.
2. Baste strips onto the special needle lengthwise through the center to form shirred folds.
3. Hold THE SPECIAL HOOK between midddle and ring fingers. Make a crochet stitch, then pull a fold off the needle. Crochet stitches make a strong net that is hidden inside the fabric folds. Shirret has last-forever strength on the inside, and luxurious softness on the outside - & it's completely reversible!
Shirret will never be another unfinished project in the closet. Why? At the end of every round or row, it looks finished and you can use your Shirret until the next time you add to it. There's no canvas to fill in. Use it as a hot mat, then add rows for a chair pad, then make it into a small rug, and finally turn it into a room size rug.
Contemporary Shirret patterns in now colors made from out of style wool skirts 
| THIS IS SHIRRET HOME | INDEX | VIEW 100 SHIRRETS IN 7 PGS | SHOP | SHOP BY MAIL | HOW TO | HER STORY YOURS | LINKS |
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