Shelbee on the Rags: Rag Garland

My bohemian bedroom makeover is wholly responsible for inspiring my very first raggery project and launching Shelbee on the Rags into a knot tying frenzy. It went something like this…

I needed new curtains for my updated bedroom. I couldn’t find curtains that I liked. I decided to make patchwork curtains and bought piles of coordinating fabrics. I realized my sewing skills were not up to par for such an undertaking. I discovered a way to make no-sew curtains with a bohemian vibe and my rag curtain obsession began.

As I was accessorizing my bedroom, I wanted to incorporate much of my hat collection into my wall decor. It took some weeks of brainstorming ideas for how to hang and display my hats when it finally occurred to me to make rag garland. Using the leftover scraps from the curtains, I created three long ropes of matching garland and scalloped them along the tops of three walls. Then I looped “S” hooks along the garland and hung my hats and a few necklaces for a fun wall display. And it keeps my hats from getting all crushed up from being stacked on top of each other.

As much as I love this raggy garland, strangely I had quite forgotten about it as I was busy creating rag curtains, which are nothing more than a large collection of rag garland strands. The idea returned to me, however, when I had finished “The Everything But…” Rag Curtain Collection.

I had a small pile of scraps leftover that were all fabric loops from the cuffs of all the clothing that was cut up for the rag curtain. The pile of loops reminded me of construction paper garland so I started tying the fabric loops together in the same chain link pattern that you do with construction paper. Once I tied them all together, I had a 45′ long strand of raggy garland that was the perfect length to go round and round my living room tree.

In case you’re wondering, on New Year’s Day I take down all of my Christmas decorations except for my tree, mantel lights, and outdoor icicle lights. I strip all the ornaments off the tree and pack them away until next year, but I cannot bring myself to get rid of the tree with its lovely white lights until spring arrives. One of my favorite things in all the world is sitting in the quiet early morning hours, listening to soft relaxing music with my coffee and my laptop in the soft glow of the tree lights. So on the first day of the year, my tree officially transitions from a Christmas tree to a living room tree.

But she always looks a little naked standing in the corner all covered in nothing but fake snow. I think this multicolored, raggy garland was the perfect way to dress her up for her non-holiday time in the living room!

I really enjoyed making this garland and think it is so cute for an artsy bohemian aesthetic so I thought maybe other people might like it, too. But I was out of fabric loops to make more. Of course, I could make it with regular strips of fabric like I did the garland in my bedroom, but there was something special that appealed to me about connecting the loops together. And the loops made me think of the bin of socks that I have been repurposing into sock snowmen and sock pumpkins.

First, I used up the pile of leftover socks from my sock pumpkin project to create another 45′ garland in beautiful fall colors that would look gorgeous on a Thanksgiving or Autumn Equinox tree. Then I rolled it all up into a cute, colorful ball of raggy goodness, and tagged it for sale.

Next I dug into the big bin of socks, pulled out some coordinating pairs in pinks, grays, black, and white, and cut them all up until I had a big pile of fabric loops.

Then I took the pile of loops to the couch, put on Young Sheldon, and started tying. Instead of one giant 45′ long strand of garland, I created a variety of lengths in this cheerful color palette: one 20′ strand, two 10′ strands, and two 7.5′ strands. And I rolled those all up into adorable little balls of raggy goodness and put tags on the whole bally bunch which are now available for sale.

Here’s the whole pile of raggy garland balls together. Aren’t they adorable?

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

Keeping it on the rags, 

Shelbee

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