Creating Shaggy Mats or Pillows

 Gotto love a bit of shag pile!

Not the 70s acrylic horror stories.... 

go for the contemporary, recycled, upcycled vibe.... it might grow out of frugality, DON'T waste perfectly useful stuff but it can have a lot of style.

I have always loved a "I'll make it myself" mentality and patchworked and quilted offcuts into quilts and jackets.... then a long comes the workshop and a whole lot more useful stuff to utilize

I saw Rag Rugs- Boucherouite they are called in Morocco and everyone makes them out of old clothes or yarns from weaving. 

Practical Beauty... the best kind if you ask me.

In Morocco they are ofter woven because doesn't eveyone have a loom?

I had made rag rugs years ago in OZ and worked in hessian very simialr effect

Here we have lovely handloom cotton- our Rajasthan weaver Mr Gaffer uses the rough spun cotton too lumpy for cloth up to make this cloth used as floor wipes.

It is perfect for shaggy work.

Indra Madam has worked our sample- a pillow 

view from behind is rather stunning too.

Easy to do.

1. find your cloth and cut into 1cm wide shreds [ can use our khadi yarn or sari silk yarn]

2. make a length guide. I started using my phone, you could use 2 layers of cardbaord or be lucky like me and have a son make you one from wood.

3. Fabric cut into strips approx 1 cm wide. We use our khadi offcuts, also used jeans and cut up silk saris. Let your imagination run wild any old cloth would be suitable.

4. Wrap the 'yarn' around your guide [ remeber making pompoms as a kid?] about 20cm/8 in long works for me, 

then cut into short strips. No guide, just work by eye, no problem.

5. Use a large crotchet hook and loop it through the open cloth. This hook is about 6mm the bigger the hook, they easier it is to pull back through I htink.

6. a little experimenting will show you the best density of work. Heavier fabrics or if cut a little wider you can psace it out more. Silk Yarn and it looks luscious nice and tight.

7. Our panels come ready to use with a khadi cotton binding. The big ones are ready to use once you have done the shaggy to become a mat.

8. our smallest size id 50 x 50 cm and is easy to make into a pillow. 

I like to work by hand so I simply blanket stitched a pillow back onto the shaggy front.

Happy Making 😊

You'll find the bits and pieces used here in our shop