Shelbee on the Rags: “In the Garden” Rag Curtain

I just completed my latest rag curtain project which was inspired by my mother and very much guided by her spirit. I have outlined my step by step process of taking thrift store garments and turning them into functional artwork in the post featuring my Carolina on My Mind rag curtain. I am attempting to prevent as many textiles as I can from ending up in our already overwhelmed landfills by rescuing unwanted garments from thrift stores and creating an environmentally friendly and practical art form.

The idea of a floral garden themed curtain came to mind when I first started creating these rag curtains. In fact, about 12 ideas came to mind immediately with the quickness and intensity of inspiration in overdrive. My “ideas” list has now grown to 20 but I am running out of room for storing the completed curtains. My next step is figuring out how to best market and sell them, I guess. I really enjoy making them and can’t stop myself now. I’ll need a whole rag studio soon!

But I digress. I wanted to share how my mother inspired and guided me through the whole process of creating this curtain. I had “All Florals” on my ideas list for a while until my mother’s inspiration really hit me just after Thanksgiving. As we were unpacking all of the Christmas decorations, I rediscovered a big white floral flannel sheet at the bottom of a bin. This sheet belonged to my mother. She had packed it around her Lenox nativity which I inherited when she died. Every year, I pull out this stupid sheet which gets all musty smelling from my basement, I wash it, and repack it with the nativity only to repeat the entire process again next Christmas. All of the nativity pieces still have their original boxes with proper padding so the sheet is completely unnecessary for safely storing that special heirloom. This year, I pulled out the sheet, washed it, and decided it was not going back into that nativity bin. Instead, it was going to form the “bones” of my floral rag curtain.

At that moment, the name popped into my head…In the Garden. It was my mother’s and my favorite church hymn. We sang it at my father’s funeral upon my mother’s demands. And then we sang it at my mother’s funeral upon my demands. And now it is represented in the form of rag art, inspired by my mother.

I did not take any photos of the pile of textiles I used for this curtain, but it started with the mom sheet in white floral flannel. The sheet made really long strips which were great for tying onto the thick tree branch. I wrapped the branch in twine to prevent slippage and splintering but forgot to take a photo. The next fabric strips I added were previously cut ones that were intended for Carolina on My Mind but ended up not being used.

After I got the “bones” on the branch, I began cutting up my thrift store haul of $0.99 items as well as a few garments I donated from my closet. Do you see that little pile of golden yellow strips in the top right corner of the second photo below? Those were cut from a pair of pants that my mother made for me many years ago to wear with this handmade tunic. I still wear the tunic but the pants were much too large and the fabric is utterly horrendous! I have no idea why we even chose that fabric. I guess I really liked the color or maybe it was inexpensive.

In any event, the fabric is gross and I was never going to put it on my body again. But I don’t want to keep too many sentimental things around because nobody after me wants that shit. And I don’t want to leave too much of a mess behind when I go. Like my mom did! Ha. Oh boy, did she ever leave a mess behind. About three large dumpsters full of a mess! I believe my mother would have been classified as a hoarder to some degree. We found the strangest collections of things after she died. Pill bottles filled with baby teeth and fingernail clippings. (So freaking gross. I gagged just typing that.) Figurines and ceramic things, brass collectibles, and Bibles (so many Bibles). And lots and lots of clothing which would really come in handy for me now! But alas, it was all sacrificed to the dumpster gods in 2006.

Again, I have digressed! My mother has a chatty spirit and she always enjoyed story telling so I am just letting her stories flow freely right now. And those awful golden pants are part of this rag curtain now so my children will have one less thing to clean out when I leave this world. My mother really is in this curtain by virtue of the two items that she once touched and handled with her hands. Knowing that she infused lots of love into all of her handmade garments, I can guarantee that the same love is in this curtain.

Once the scraps were all cut, I did a Reiki meditation, smudged the fabrics, and prayed for guidance then I began tying, trusting the process and, in this case, following the guidance of my mother’s spirit.

I continued adding strands and filling in until the curtain reached the thickness I desired. I also gave it a tiered valance effect using strips cut from scarves.

And you can see the bits of white floral flannel and awful golden polyester peeking out along the top as if my mother is shining her light and love cascading down the curtain.

In the Garden is for sale for $250 plus shipping. I have no idea what shipping would cost but I do know that these curtains are really heavy (the weight of 50-70 garments) so it will likely be pricey. If I can hand deliver it, I will! The curtain measures approximately 39″ x 84″ and will fit across the top of most standard doorways. It is very thick and very heavy and ever so pretty. It is really difficult to capture the beauty of these curtains in photographs. I just don’t have the space to get proper lighting and angles.

For now, In the Garden is going to hang in my downstairs hallway so I can enjoy it for a while. I cannot resist running my fingers through it every time I walk by it. I really want to see it in a doorway where you can properly walk through it as if you are entering a magical spiritual garden!

Please somebody take her home…She is too beautiful to hang around my house forever!

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

Keeping it on the rags, 

Shelbee

Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.