It's been a crafty wonderland around here lately! I had an epiphone when looking for fabric wreath ideas online. I spotted a yarn wreath that had a felt ruffle tied to it, and thought, "Hey, what if I covered the entire wreath in ruffles, perhaps made of ivory silk and champagne-colored satin? And...what if I made FIVE of them and hung them all around the shop?!" My vision was fantastic, but I doubted my ability to make it come to life. And I wondered if it might end up costing too much? I needed to make five of them, after all! The biggest concern of course was really...would it be CUTE enough? Our fabulous little boutique must only have the best, after all. I didn't want to end up with a sad wreath situation.The big question was:
Could these homemade fabric wreath really rock the runway?
Well, turns out, they do! And they are super-easy to make! And not very expensive! So go for it! Here's how:
I went straight to Fabric Depot, and spotted some beautiful ivory polyesther silk (cheaper than the real thing!), and a champagne-colored satin, and then a super-super-cheap bolt of light, almost sheer muslin.The kind of fresh white cotton muslin they used to make petticoats and chemises out of! It's only like 1.99 a yard, so I got two. (remember, I was making five wreaths, for one, you'd only need a little.
I went to a craft store then and bought yellow straw wreath forms.(Do not take off the plastic shrink wrap, it will keep the straw tight and tidy, and is great for pinning!) I bought four smaller ones of 12" and one large one of 16".
I took the fabrics home and figured out how long a piece needed to be in order to wrap around the wreath arm. Each piece of fabric you cut will be this length, which is about 12".
Then, I decided to put the cheapest fabric on the bottom because I would use the most of that, so that was the muslin, and I cut out several pieces of muslin 12" x 6". The next layer would be the satin because I wanted to save the most luxurious, shimmering fabric (the silk) for the top. So I cut pieces of the satin 12" x 5". Then I cut pieces of the silk 12" x 4". And layered them big, next smaller, smallest.
Sew down the middle of each pile of strips with a basting stitch.
Then, take the string at the end of your basting stitch, and gently gather, wiggling it a bit as it creates the ruffle. Be careful not to pull too hard and break your string!
Now, final step, just pin each gathered stip around the straw wreath form (do not take off plastic covering!)I like to trim each piece a bit so the fraying effect is at a minimum, before I pin them to the form.:)
It takes about 7 piles of the 3 ffabrics to cover the smaller wreaths, and about 12 for the large.
When all the pieces are in place you can pin a length of gross-grain ribbon for it to hang from! So beautiful, and if I do say so, so chic!
Stay tuned for a matching fabric garland!
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