Shelbee on the Rags

I have been in creative overdrive for months, crafting works of art from rags. Yes, rags. Rags that I have been making from old clothing that was destined for a landfill. Saving as much as I can so as not to contribute to the environmental mess that the fashion industry continues to perpetuate. I am calling this art medium raggery and it suits my bohemian soul perfectly.

It all began with my bohemian bedroom makeover when I made rag curtains out of strips of quilting fabric. For this first of my rag curtains, I bought new fabric when it was on a flash sale at JOANN for $2.99 a yard. I cannot remember how much fabric was used because I bought it in shifts to complete the three bedroom windows. I think I used about 20 yards of fabric for each window. The total fabric cost was definitely near the $200 mark. I love the way these ribbon style rag curtains turned out but the cost of new fabric is really expensive for projects this large. Because all artwork should have a name, I have coined my bedroom curtains Bohemian Blues.

I love my bedroom rag curtains so much that I decided I wanted one for my cloffice doorway as well. But I didn’t want to spend another small fortune on fabric. So I decided to use old clothing instead. I figured if I am cutting it all up into rag strips, why the heck am I spending the money on brand new fabrics when I can use what I already have in my closet or buy it for way cheaper at a thrift shop.

But my first true raggery project was not my cloffice curtain. It was my mannequin, also named Shelbee because that is what my kids named her when she first came to us about 7 years ago. For the last few years, she has been hiding in the back of the coat closet naked. I decided she needed a little patchwork raggery makeover so she wouldn’t be nude all the time. So I bought a giant tub of Mod Podge and scoured the thrift store racks for 99 cent scarves that I could cut into scraps for this rather large decoupage project.

I loved Patchwork Shelbee so much that I decided to decoupage this antique end table that I inherited from my mother. She aways called it her sewing table because she stored her spools of thread in the drawers. I have used it as a functional end table for years but it was looking mighty beat up and in desperate need of a makeover. I wanted the colors to match my gypsy teal living room so I headed back to the thrift shop to find some more 99 cent scarves in a coordinating color palette.

First I removed the old brass knobs and decoupaged the drawer fronts. I quickly realized that decoupaging the entire table would probably be really difficult with all the sharp edges and details of the woodwork. So I decided to limit the decoupaging to only the flat surfaces. But first I needed to sand down all the surfaces in case I wanted to paint the wood later. I sanded it all by hand (a power sander is on my Christmas list!) and it required a lot of arm strength and elbow grease. But I got it done, grinning through the burn! Then I set to gluing the fabric scraps to the surfaces with Mod Podge. Letting it dry in between, I ended up adding 3 layers of decoupage to each side. I replaced the brass drawer pulls with four mismatched white antique style ones to maintain my bohemian aesthetic.

I really like the sanded down wood although my 12 year old says that sanded wood looks like raw meat and insists that I paint it white. For now, I like it the way it is. I do need to get a piece of glass for the top to protect my pretty work from spills and such.

Once my sewing table was completed, I still had a big pile of fabric scraps in these gorgeous shades of aqua, turquoise, and teal. I couldn’t just toss them because that would be wasteful. So instead I used these scraps to inspire the beginning of my cloffice rag curtain. I didn’t have nearly enough rags, however, for the size of this curtain so I headed back to the thrift store once again. Limiting myself to only the things that were on sale for 99 cents, I spent about an hour and a half sifting through the racks (thankfully they are all organized by color in this particular thrift shop). In the end, I used approximately 50 thrift shop garments and a few second hand pillowcases to make this curtain. It measures 32″ x 82″ and it brings me so much joy every time I look at it! I call this curtain Aqua Allure.

This style rag curtain is more like rag ropes as opposed to the rag ribbons that were used to make my bedroom curtains. Rag ropes use much smaller strips of fabric than rag ribbons and require many more knots to be tied. But the process of cutting the fabric and tying the knots is one of the most relaxing activities I have discovered since yoga!

As creative inspiration continued to flood in, I kept my mind focused on sustainability and started digging into my big bin of socks that my finicky feet no longer enjoy to see what I could craft from them. I ended up with one sock snowman stuffed with rice and a basket of sock pumpkins and sock mushrooms to adorn my dining room table. All the twigs that make the stems were gathered from my back yard and the awesome bowl is a recent thrift shop find.

I also got the idea of making a rag lamp shade. But I totally messed it up when I disassembled the lamp shade! It ended up being a cute hanging planter instead. The name that keeps coming to me for this one is Fire on the Mountain.

And then the inspiration really started pouring in. I had a large trash bag filled with the kids’ old tee shirts, shorts, sweatpants, and a few pairs of jeans. The bag was headed for a donation bin but honestly the stuff inside was old and worn out and useless for anything else but rags. So I turned the whole bag into rags and made another curtain which I assembled on a tree branch from the white maple in my back yard. The kids shaved all the bark off for me for a nice smooth surface. This one fits a standard sized door frame and is called Saved from the Landfill. It is for sale for $150 plus shipping.

I have also made some cute wall hangings from recycled kids’ tee shirts as well. The tie dye ones adorn my bedroom wall and my front door. This collection has been named Memories in Tie Dye. The red, black, and blue camouflage one is hanging in the game room. I am calling that one What Little Boys are Made Of.

Well, all of this raggery got me to thinking that I could make lots of awesome things from old clothing to prevent it from piling up in landfills. So I approached my dear friend Denise, the owner of our local consignment shop, Solitary Consignment, and asked if she would be interested in a rag curtain for her fitting room. She recently gave her shop a complete makeover and happened to be in need of a new fitting room curtain.

This turned into my biggest rag curtain project to date. This beauty is 37 inches wide and 82 inches long. She began with 113 rag rope strands which ended up being a bit too sheer for a fitting room. So I added another 113 rag rope strands, attaching a second one to each existing rope strand, for a total of 226 rag ropes that each measure 74-82 inches long. I made the second strands about 6-8 inches shorter to create some volume and extra dimension.

My math is far from accurate here, but based on some rough estimates, this curtain has approximately 5,000 knots tied in it. The photographs do not do her justice. She is absolutely stunning in real life. The scraps used in this particular curtain were all the odd cuts and scraps of fabrics from my other projects. I did not want to waste all the seams, waistbands, pockets, and cuffs that were detached from garments to complete my other projects. So I threw them all into a bin, did a quick closet clean out of a few old tee shirts and knit dresses that were eventually heading to the donation box, and set to work on a two week long knot tying marathon. There were a few days that I worked for 14 hours straight, cutting and tying, cutting and tying, cutting and tying, until I was completely satisfied. She is no longer see through and she is gorgeous! I have named her Bohemian Ragsody because she really is like a visual symphony and a store with a punny name needs some rag art with an equally punny name. Hopefully, she will be installed this weekend. I am so excited to see this beautiful curtain hanging in her permanent home!

Speaking of Denise, she loved my Patchwork Shelbee so much that she asked me to decoupage this girl for her shop. So I will be working on this soon. She will be named Decoupage Denise!

*Edited November 13, 2023: “Bohemian Ragsody” has been installed! And she looks brilliant in her new home, don’t you think?

This rag art is bringing me so much joy. I meditate and practice Reiki while I am tying the scraps together, praying that each bit of fabric maintains all of its good energy while being cleansed of any bad energy that may have touched it. Being a person who has always had sentimental attachments to clothing, I can literally see and feel the entire history of each garment. I get the same feeling when I walk into an old library. I feel all the energy of the humans who were voracious for knowledge, seeking it within the dusty old pages of ancient texts. I swear I can smell the history and feel the stories of everyone who ever leafed through those old pages. I am getting that same nostalgic feeling with these scraps of clothing. Were did they come from? Who designed the textile then the garment? Was everyone in the production process treated fairly? If it is a thrift shop garment, who owned it before me? Was it a beloved item that they outgrew or was it something they hated from the start? So many questions. So many stories. So much character. And such an amazing way to create something beautiful from what many might consider garbage!

If I seem to go missing, it’s probably because I got caught up in my raggery. Sometimes, literally caught up in it. We have all found ourselves a little tangled in the long raggy dreadlocks of the cloffice curtain on occasion!

If you want an awesome rag rope curtain for yourself or for a gift, I will happily take custom orders. I can use your old clothing if you send it to me or I can create whatever you want using 99 cent thrift shop items. I have so many ideas running through my mind right now! Please feel free to share your ideas with me as well.

If you are interested in my other raggery creations, click here for the full list. 

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee on the Rags!

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