Thursday, December 9, 2010

Holiday Garland Tutorial & Giveaway

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED
Thanks to all who entered the contest! Congrats to our winner, Dana!


When it came time to decorate for our Jingle Bash, the Deco Squad planners (Cheyne, Laura and Larry) really wanted to echo the theme created in our gorgeous event fliers, by our own Christina of paperfingers. We decided to make a very simple felt garland that played on her beautiful leafy design. We ended up liking the garland so much that we wanted to share how to make it! It's seriously quick, inexpensive, and very versatile.

Not crafty yourself? Skip to the bottom to find out how you can win the tutorial example - a 12 foot handmade garland the perfect length to decorate a doorway or mantle!


You'll need:
- felt*
- scissors
- thread to match your most frequently occurring felt color
- sewing machin
- holiday music playlist worthy of your awesomeness. (Wham!'s "Last Christmas" on repeat is clearly your only option.)
- hot chocolate or coffee. (It works like magic, trust me.)

* We approximate the felt turns into at least 6 feet of garland per half yard of 36" wide felt on the bolt. So if you'd like at least 18 feet, buy 1.5 yards total. This is approximate and will vary on the leaf size, the spacing when sewn together, and how conservatively you lay out your leafs for cutting.

STEP 1
Choose your garland color scheme and gather your supplies. The Deco Squad chose the colors to match our Jingle Bash artwork. I'd love to do a gorgeous aqua and silver/grey garland!

STEP 2
Turn up "Last Christmas" on high volume, get that hot chocolate close to you, find a table to get to cutting. This step is clearly very important.


STEP 3
Cut your felt into nice little leaves. We made the ones for the Jingle Bash fairly large because we need to cover larger areas. I made my example leaves about 3 inches long. If you're not comfortable with a trial and error approach of cutting directly on the felt, draw out some leaves on paper and hold/pin the paper to the felt and cut around your drawn shape. After you've found the shape and size you like, it's easy to hold the original leaf onto the felt and cut replicas. Don't like our shape or need to print out a template? Click here to help you find something you like.

STEP 4
Work out the placement of your leaves. I chose three colors for the example garland so the colors would alternate well.

Tip: You can pin your leaves to each other or on to a tracing paper backing if you aren't comfortable with placing them as you sew. Just rip the tracing paper off after it's sewn together. I chose to skip this step because I found it was easier to play with the placement as I sewed.


You should be able to keep a straight stitch down the middle of the garland, catching the bottom/side of each leaf as you sew down. If you chose not to pin your leaves together, just add each leaf as you sew, paying attention to placement. Here's a tiny video of how that's done:


Tip: You may find that stitching in a curve back and forth catches more of each leaf and make a more structured garland. Be prepared to play with it a bit! And don't be completely scared of the seam ripper if you don't like your first try!

Warning! This requires your hands to be very close to the needle. Please be aware of where your hands are. I've sewn through my fingernail (not with this project). I don't recommend it. It doesn't leave a cool war wound, it's mainly just painful and scary.

STEP 6
Drape it up on your mantle, on your tree, or in the doorway. Pretty!


Put your own spin on it! Sew some ribbon on the end to tie to things, sew a short version with ribbon ends and make a grecian headband, choose super high quality wool felt and make a scarf! Show us what you make!


Or skip all that and comment on this blog post to win our leafy garland. Include your email address and we'll pick a winner at random to receive our sample garland in the mail in time for Christmas! Comments close Wednesday December 15th at midnight. Reblog and link in the comments for a second entry! US residents only, please!

Posted by Cheyne of CutOutAndCollect And please no judgments on my musical taste.

25 comments:

morganclairemyers.wordpress.com said...

I want the garland!! :) I went to the jingle bash and I thought it was adorable. I need it for Dougy (my beloved christmas tree).

morganclairemyers@gmail.com

Erika said...

Love the colors and the design!

pamela michelle said...

I posted this on my blog! Great post! All the decorations at the Jingle Bash were so beautiful! Good job :)

http://pamelamichelle.blogspot.com/2010/12/tutorials-prizes-from-etsy-dallas-blog.html

Stephanie said...

BOOM. >>> http://tefidesigns.blogspot.com/2010/12/etsy-dallas-holiday-garland-tutorial.html

I love this tutorial!

Unknown said...

lovely garland!

Erin said...

Love it, and would love to win it. If not, maybe a project for next year!
info@mrsjewell.com

dmatens said...

Wish I wouldn't have missed the Jingle Bash. I will be watching this spring and next holiday season. The garland is lovely!
denisematens@gmail.com

melissastumbo said...

Oh, I love it!! Those are my favorite colors. In fact I have a red couch that color with gold walls. Then my kitchen is painted that color green. This garland screams Meissa's house!!!

mel0770@mac.com

Kayleigh said...

I absolutely love this garland. Sadly, I don't have a sewing machine to make it with and no time for hand sewing. SOOOOO please please let me win it :)

Kayleigh Matheson.... kmm628@gmail.com

Kayleigh said...

To show how much I love this garland ( and for good measure) I'm posting again! I really hope I win this. Too cute
Kmm628@gmail.com

Kayleigh said...

Just to show how much I love this garland (and for good measure!) I'm posting again. I really hope that I win this. It's too cute.

kmm628@gmail.com

Karmacrochet said...

It will make a lovely cat teaser :)

Great garland and tutorial!

Joe said...

Great project! My wife would love this!

jovid052@gmail.com

Michael said...

I'm so buying some felt tomorrow and recreating this! But, for good measure, I'll post this in hopes of winning yours!

I wish I had thought of this! :)

Miss Mandi said...

oh this is wonderful!
when my sewing machine decides to work again, i'm so making this!

love mandi.
happylittlebirdy@gmail.com

Tracy Autem, President and Photographer said...

No sewing projects for me this year, I'm a busy elf making others holiday wants come true. This lovely garland would spruce up my hone quite nicely.

idyll hands said...

I must have that garland... stat!

Ehwin@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

OOH! I helped hang this at the Jingle Bash and fell madly in love! Pick ME?!?!?!

Anonymous said...

Love it and want it! cmpenniman@yahoo.com

Lisa said...

Love the garland. Would be super cute in so many colors.

Dana said...

Had a great time at Jingle Bash! Love the garland.

dbuckley2639@gmail.com

Sarah Zamora said...

So yummy! Love how it coordinated with the Bash theme!

Sarah at originalyouth dotcom

Celina said...

So so pretty!!!

ustrigirl@yahoo.com

Andee said...

I saw this at the Jingle Bash and wanted to take it home with me!

thebohlins {at} sbcglobal.net

flowergal said...

what a simple and lovely way to decorate...loved the jingle bash too and had a blast.

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