To make a shirred rag rug, strips of wool must be gathered, then they’re shirred in coils or rows with thread. This is different from a sewn shag rug in which gathered strips of fabric are sewn to a base fabric.

Shirred contemporary area rugs have very rich, deep textures and are reversible. The normal shirred rugs can be made by trying several different methods. In exact shirring, the folds of fabric radiate from a center or line up in rows, whereas faux shirring is dissimilar in the folds of fabric are laid around the rug in a sequence of “s” shapes instead of radiating from the center.

The different shirring strategies are described below.

Sewn Center Shirring : this type of shirring is the oldest kind of shirred rugs and are quite easy to construct. This method is done by taking strips of fabric and working them onto a thread, then going in an out to produce folds along the thread. The shirred sections are then coiled and stitched to create the rug.

crocheted Center Shirring : There are two versions of this type of shirred rug which are accomplished by a crocheted action wherein fabric strips are shirred onto a long thin afghan kind of crochet hook.

The 1st method of this kind of shirring is called the “hump-back hook” or “bent” hook methodology. A specifically bent, long thin crochet hook is used to shirr the fabric and each fold of fabric is worked off together with a double crochet stitch or a combo of a single crochet and a chain stitch. The fold is then attached to the rug as it is worked. This crocheted shirring method is regarded the most complicated of the methods. Different hump-back crochet hooks have been marked over the years that are referred to as the “Schirren” hook, the “Shirret” hook, or “Art rug Needle.”

The second type of shirring strategy is the afghan hook method. This is done using fabric strips which are shirred onto an afghan ( or bent ) hook. Then the folds of the fabric are worked off and secured to form a chain stitch. This leads to a long strip of shirred fabric, which is then coiled to form the rugs and secured by stitching or crocheting with a steel crochet hook. This strategy of crocheted shirring is the easiest for a beginner to accomplish.

Edge Shirring : this method is done along one edge of a strip of fabric instead of in the center. The rugs are normally scrub and need to have a spacing strip to allow the rug to lie flat.

Mono-shirring : This method is used to create a thick mat or blanket by using a single big piece of wool fabric which is gathered along many threads.

fake Shirring : this kind of shirring is usually simpler than the regular shirred methods and have the same deep texture and are also reversible. Wool strips are stitched along with a fold at every stitch. The difference between pretend shirring and shirred rugs is the folds of fabric lay around the exterior of the rug, while in regular shirring the folds spread out from the center.

The 3 main techniques of making pretend shirred rugs are described below.

Needle and thread : A long sewing needle is employed in this strategy which is quite similar to the development of standing wool rugs. The difference is that each stitch is secured with a folded section of fabric.

Awl stitched : this technique is done with an awl and contains a loop of thread that secures each fold of fabric. Various devices have been utilized to form these rugs, including the “texing” needle.

knitted : These are made with a small steel crochet hook, with one crochet stitch securing each one of the folds. Since this strategy is easy to do, it is quite straightforward to form patterns within the rug.