Scrappy Fabric Valentine's Day Rag Wreath

     With all of the Christmas decorations down, and the cold, sometimes gray days that winter can bring, I decided to work on some cheerful and colorful decorations for our home. Since Valentine's Day is around the corner, I thought I would create a new wreath to dress up our front door with some color. These wreaths can be made with any scrap fabric that you have leftover from other projects that you have done, but since I was going for s specific color and theme, I purchased some new fabric for this project. I bought 1/2 yard each of 8 different heart themed fabrics in colors of white, red and pink, and I used an 18 inch metal wreath form. I have quite a bit of fabric left over. I'm not sure if there is enough to make another wreath this size, but I definitely think that I have enough to make a smaller version. These wreath forms are available in many sizes, so that is certainly a possibility.

    The first step is to create fabric strips.I made my strips 1inch by 6 inches. You will need quite a lot, so be prepared. I initially started off with the plan of tearing my one inch fabric strips by cutting small slits one inch apart and tearing down the length of fabric. While this method works, and creates straight strips, I didn't like how the fabric strips curled in a bit and they really started to fray more than I wanted. So, after tearing the first fabric, I decided to change methods and brought out my quilting mat, ruler and rotary cutter. The quilt mat is clearly marked in one inch increments, so getting the correct size was easy. The beauty of this craft is that size doesn't have to be exact, so don't make yourself crazy with trying to be perfect.

      Once I had the pile of 1 inch strips, I then cut each one into 6 inch long pieces. My daughter and I worked together on this part, so as one of us was cutting the 1 inch strips, the other one would take them and divide them into 6 inch long pieces. This sped up the process quite a bit.

     The next step is easy, but can take a while to complete. I did it while listening to a book on CD one day and while chatting with my son and his girlfriend on another day. You can also do it while watching television. It's really easy and doesn't take a lot of concentration, so put on the radio, TV, or audio book and get ready to make a colorful wreath. You simply tie each fabric strip you created onto the metal wreath form. I only made 1 knot as the wreath will just be hanging and not getting touched a lot, so I didn't feel the need to double knot the strips.

     The wreath forms are divided into sections, so once you tie the strip on, push it all the way over to the vertical divider, and tie the next strip on. As you tie on each strip, push it up against the previous strip. Complete one section of the wreath at a time.

      You can use any pattern you want when applying the various fabrics. I pushed my strips tightly together and made the wreath rather full. You could use less strips and make it somewhat looser if you choose to.

 

     I have to admit, that while simple, this part took longer than I had anticipated. I was also covered in little fabric threads when I was done. The beauty is that you can stop and start at any time, so it is easy to work on this project whenever you have a few spare minutes. It's really fun to see the scraps start to come together to form the decoration.

    











The front of the finished wreath looks soft and fluffy, but even the back of the wreath has a nice finished look to it. It would make a nice gift to present to a friend.

          When you are up close to the wreath, you can see the patterns of the various fabrics, but from a distance you can just see the splashes of fun colors.

     I haven't decided if I want to add any finishing embellishments like a bow to the wreath yet, but for now I chose to hang it on our front door "as is".  It adds a pop of bright color during these cold months, and is a cheerful way to welcome our guests.

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