Tuesday, October 7, 2014

A little something different

I've been wanting to make a post that's a little different.... some crafting! Last year, I made this tulle wreath for a Halloween decoration.


It's a fun, easy project, and I wanted to have one for Christmas time as well, so I thought I'd make a tutorial. This is the first one I've written, so here goes!

Tulle Wreath Tutorial

Materials:

  • 5 or 8 inch embroidery hoop
  • 2 yards total of tulle (in two or three colors, the Halloween wreath has one yard each orange and black, Christmas has one yard silver sparkly net, half a yard cranberry red, half a yard forest green)
  • Rotary cutter and ruler or scissors


First, lay out the tulle to be cut, keep it folded down the middle, then fold it in half again, the fold to the selvages, so it is in four layers. Cut it into 1.5" strips.


Then, cut on the folds so each strip is in four pieces, each about 12-13" long.


I ended up cutting the silver netting in half again because it stretched in a weird way. Tie each strip in a knot around the hoop, keeping the knot on the "front" of the wreath. The silver netting also worked better with two layers of strips together.

Put on a show to watch and keep tying strips on until you use them all up, pushing them together. Alternate colors to blend them together, or bunch them to make a bolder pattern.


Once all the strips are tied on, there will be a gap on the hoop. Spread out the knotted strips until it's even all around.

Tie an extra strip, piece of ribbon or something else through the screw that adjusts the outer hoop to hang the wreath and you're all done! It takes some time to tie all the strips on, but it's easy, relatively inexpensive, there's no sewing or gluing, and it's a very festive decoration. Experiment with different widths of tulle strips, the order they're tied on, and color combinations for different seasons or events. I'm thinking of making a blue one for Diabetes Awareness Month in November, but we'll see. I hope you enjoyed this break from all the diabetes talk!

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