| THIS IS HOME | INDEX | WHAT IS SHIRRET ? 4PGS | DESIGNS TO MAKE 4PGS | SHOP | BARGAINS | MOVIE | HOW TO 3PGS | HERSTORY | PRESS | LINKS |
––by Lady McCrady 
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>
What's new in
crochet ?
you can make rag rugs and
cozies and hats and fashion chic
from fabric scraps
Click here for video How-to with my SPECIAL CROCHET HOOK
My SPECIAL CROCHET HOOK crochets Rag Rugs, cool Cozies - hats & accessories.
D.I.Y. free confetti yarn by recycling your old clothes.
Easy HOW TO by watching - VIDEO or DVD $17, by copying - SAMPLE $7,by reading - $17 BOOK with Written and a zillion Picture Instructions.
or by kit ShiRReT Beginner Projects $17 Cozies & Sunflowers, Brooches, hanbags, Hot Mats & hats
"If everyone took this up, there'd be World Peace." –––Clo Davis, Boston
Save money using recycled fabric. The only thing you buy again is CORD in fashion colors, $5.
You can make stunning hats, gypsy carpetbag Chic, & rich leetle rag rugs
"Do you crochet?"
"Yah, but who doesn't these days? It helps me think." ––Jola, sculptor, New Haven
PATTERNS & SPECIAL NEEDLE
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 permanenet 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 with
a 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, kaleidoscope 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 needle 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 - and 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.
Lovely to Look At and Heaven To Walk On
Shirret has become popular the world over. Devotees can be found in places ranging from Alaska to Hawaii and Curacao, from
Montreal to New Zealand and Russia. Hideko Ochiai of New York, New York writes "I'm thoroughly enjoying Shirret, and found
learning the craft was easy and fast, as your instructions are excellent". "I never write fan letters," writes Marie Anderson, Hibbing MN
"but I'm having such a good time creating soft rugs with everything I dare cut up that I just had to tell you how enjoyable life has become."
Shirret is a special gift for the needlecrafter who has everything, for as little as $17.
Teaching Opportunities: Crochet Teachers, Shirret will double your classes. It has been taught continuously in the US since 1970.
Take Away Shirret while you commute. The rhythmic movements in Shirret enhance the same brain waves that scientists
and artists use to generate ideas and problem solve.
Start a family tradition - make a lovely shirret to welcome the new baby. Preserve your child's favorite clothes forever in a shirret rug!
Crochet Tea Cozy, or hat? –––by Lady McCrady
Piecework Magaziine Shirret, crochet with fabric scraps, what's new in crochet, crochet supplies, crochet
hooks, crochet books, crochet cozies, crochet rag rugs, sewing scraps, carpetbag, handmade American rugs, shirret, shirret hook, confetti
yarn, how to crochet video, How 2 shirret video, Index of shirret American crochet carpets art rag rugs of fabric scraps and recycled fabric.Crochet in New England
Crochet in Connecticut, how to crochet video, how to crochet dvd, crochet supplies on the internet, Louise McCrady, free confetti yarn,
| THIS IS HOME | INDEX | WHAT IS SHIRRET? 4 PGS | DESIGNS U MAKE 4 PGS | SHOP | BARGAINS | MOVIE | HOW TO PGS 3 | STORY | PRESS | LINKS |
