Easy DIY Shabby Chic Rag Garland Tutorial
We have big news to share here at This Bittersweet Life and we have been dying to tell you all! Just a few months ago Caitlin announced on her YouTube channel, Bella Fleur, that she is pregnant! We wanted to give her plenty of time to reveal the gender on her own social media channels and now we can finally share a blog post about her pregnancy!
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| Don't worry, Alex really is happy it's a girl, he just doesn't smile much while Cait is extremely expressive! |
We are all so excited to become a dad, mom, Oma (grandmother) and Tante (aunt) to a sweet little baby girl and we ladies are ready to throw the best baby shower ever! But of course no "Boese Girl Party" would be complete without exceptional food and decor. Honestly, it's what we do. My Aunt Sandy calls me "Mini Martha" after Martha Stewart. My mom calls it going "overboard." [Insert eye roll here.]
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| The rag garland banner in full! |
But more on baking and food later. Today, we are focusing on this adorable, and super easy to make, rag garland in Caitlin and Alex's gender reveal photo. Not only did we use in the gender reveal photo, but it will make a perfect mantle decoration at the baby shower.
You can opt to have some ribbon and fabric flowers on the garland, or you can just us strips of fabric. Most of the supplies you'll need you probably already have at home, like an iron and measuring tape.
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| Close up of some of the flowers. |
- 3 to 4 yards of fabric (we had 1 yard each of 3 different patterns plus on fat quarter)
- Fabric scissors
- Iron and ironing board
- Ruler and measuring tape
- Ribbon cord (you want something strong enough to hold the weight of the fabric)
- Needle and thread
- Fabric flowers and/or brooches (optional)
- Ribbon (optional)
Step 1
Hang two strands of ribbon cord on your mantel or wall. Keep in mind that as you add fabric and ribbon strips, it will weigh the cord down and it will hang lower as it gets heavier. We'll be hanging longer strips on one cord and shorter strips on the other so they will be weighted differently as well. You can always adjust the length of your ribbon cord later if needed. Our mantle is 83 inches wide and I made my ribbon cord approximately 82 inches long. I let the cord drape just the tiniest bit when hanging it up. (And because I waiting to hear back from my sister about how wide her window in her nursery is, I only hung one cord first and didn't cut it until I heard from her. I wanted to make sure that this garland could later become a window valance in the nursery. I hung the second ribbon cord later, which you can do also if you like.)
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| I started by doing the back row with the longer strips first, spacing out my ribbon and then starting to add the fabric strips. |
Step 2
Next, iron your fabric so that you get the wrinkles out. This will make it easier to measure your strips out. Next, fold your fabric into a manageable size for cutting strips. You'll want to make sure that you pay attention to what direction you are cutting the fabric. We'll be cutting 1.5 inch wide strips that are 40 inches long and 20 inches long, so make sure you are folding and cutting your fabric so that you are able to get 40 inch long strips.
Step 3
Using your ruler, measure 1.5 inches from one side of your fabric. You don't need to be completely perfect with this step. Part of the appeal of a rag garland is that it is shabby chic and not so perfect! Using fabric scissors, cut your 1.5" wide strip. Keep going with this step until you have plenty of strips of all your different patterns.
Step 4
Using measuring tape, measure and cut your fabric strips to get some that are 40 inches in length and some that are 20 inches in length. Do the same with your ribbons. We'll be layering these strips so that the longer strips hang on the back ribbon cord and the shorter strips hand on the front ribbon cord. My mom and I found it quicker to tag team--she did steps 2 and 3 while I did step s 1 and 4.
Step 5
Now comes the fun part--looping your fabric and ribbon strips onto your cord! Fold a strip in half and then place the folded end over the cord and then draw the two ends of your ribbon through the loop of your fabric or ribbon strip to attach it to the cord. Hang the longer strips on the back cord and the shorter ones on the front. I started by doing the back first and then the front. I also hung all of my ribbons first, spacing them out and putting the fabric in-between the ribbons. I also hung the long strips as I cut them--I'd cut a handful and then go hang them up, mostly because my mom would switch back and forth between the different patterns when cutting strips.
Step 6
Using a needle and matching thread, sew the back and front garlands together in a few spots. I chose to do it at each end, the center and then a few more spots spaced in-between. Next, sew on your fabric flowers if you want them. You could also attach brooches with or instead of flowers. I decided to sew all of mine from the center out, but didn't go the full length of the garland. What you do is totally up to you! I wanted to make sure that my sister could use it as a valance in her daughter's nursery after the shower no matter the width of the window (just in case they move). Having them centered on the garland means that the flowers are always centered on the window no matter what.
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| After you do the back row, do the front row with the shorter strips next! |
I hope you enjoyed this easy DIY tutorial for making your own rag garland. It's so easy, but so cute and sweet! The supplies are also easy to get. We purchased some of our fabric flowers from Micheal's and the rest from Etsy. We also purchased our ribbon at Micheal's. Our fabric came from Joann's and Hobby Lobby and the ribbon cord came from Hobby Lobby. And of course, there is always Amazon if you don't have good craft stores in your town.
It's also easy to make variances on this garland. If you want to vary up the length of the strips more, by all means go for it! This type of garland is so versatile you can do almost anything you want with it. Be sure to share photos of your garland with us on our Facebook page--we can't wait to see what you create!
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