Tutorial: DIY Garland

I am an incorrigible fabric collector. I can't help it--there's just something about fabric that speaks to me. If you're like me, you have boxes or bags of fabric scraps.

I've got little bits left over from past projects, too small to ever be part of a new sewing project themselves. I've got remnants I picked up at JoAnn with no plan in mind. I've got old clothes that don't fit, or aren't in style anymore. I have an entire shelf just about full of fabric.

Here's a project that uses bits and scraps from old projects to create a decorative garland. I used fall colors for mine, but your color scheme is really only limited by your available fabric.

Materials:

Rope, thick yarn, or string (on hand)
Rags and fabric scraps (on hand)

Time: 1 hour

Cost: Free!

The first step of this project is to go through your scrap fabric and pick several odds and ends in coordinating colors. My color scheme included orange cotton, green, white, and orange stripes, blue and white striped utility fabric from an apron, some white muslin, some natural linen, and a beige and brown polka-dot knit from a shirt I bought that turned out to look terrible on me.

Assemble all of these and make sure the colors are harmonious:

You can also see the white cotton rope that I decided to use

Begin cutting your fabric into strips. Vary the length and width somewhat, but be careful not to make them so short and thick that you can't actually tie them around the rope.

If you want to have a pattern, keep your piles separate. Otherwise, go ahead and jumble everything all up!

Find a comfortable seat, and start grabbing strips, either in a pattern or at random. Tie them around your rope or string--tightly enough to hold, but not so tightly that you can't slide them around a little bit. This will let you adjust the spacing of the rags on your garland.

I started out keeping mine very close together, but ended up spacing them out much more in the end because I liked the look better.

Continue to tie until you run out of space or rags, annnnnnd... that's it! You're done! Tack it up someplace and then sit back and enjoy your handiwork.

This project is linked at:

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Chic on a Shoestring

Finding Fabulous

somewhat simple
The DIY Show Off

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