Okay, so I finally got around to making my summer wreath...I still had my Christmas one up...don't judge, it wasn't super Christmassy...just red!
Step one: Gather all of your supplies. If you are anything like me I have two big bins full of fabric, buttons, and tons of other supplies. If you're not like me, then you will have to do a little shopping. You will want to decide on the color scheme you want to have. I went with a turquoise/aqua, red, coral and a touch of orange. You'll then want to pick out your fabric. I like to mix textures in my wreaths...so I have cotton, felt, lace, & jersey. Then you want to also pick out some store made green filler {I used a clover greenery} and some little flowers {mine are orange}. I also used two stems of raspberries, but you don't necessarily need those.
Supplies:
- A wreath form. I picked the grapevine wreath for this one, but you can also use other forms and just wrap them in fabric first, then in the yarn.
- A variety of fabrics in the colors you choose.
- Filler from the store...greenery, and little flowers to add depth.
- Yarn to wrap around the side of your wreath.
- Lace, ribbon and tulle for filler.
- Buttons to add to the centers of your flowers.
- Glue gun and lots of glue sticks.
In getting started, I like to have all thesupplies I may use out so I can see them together. I like to be a little messy, so if this isn't how you work, have a clean little pile of supplies!
Step 1: Starting from the back, secure your yarn with some glue, then wrap half of the wreath. After you get to the end point wrap it back over the section, giving it an x pattern. {I used Martha Stewart's wool yarn in Aqua.}
Step 2: Start making flowers. I really love this type of flower. Starting with a good size square of material {I used a cotton material, folded in half for thickness, but I really like it done with felt folded in half}, you are going to sew petals. Start in the middle, then work your way across, then all around to make a sunflower type flower.
This is how it will look when it's all sewn.
Then take sharp scissors and cut out the excess fabric.
Now for the center...start with a stip of fabric 1" wide by about 12" long.
Do a running stitch on the side so you can gather it in.
As you gather the material, it will start to curl...go ahead and run glue along the back to secure the flower. Then just glue it to the center of the sunflower.
Here is the finished flower. {I don't add buttons to the centers until all the flowers are glued on the wreath.}
This next flower is super easy. Take a strip of fabric that is 2 1/2" wide by 15" long. Fold it in half and do a running stitch along the raw edge. As you pull the thread the fabric will start to curl. Manipulate the fabric to curl the way you want and glue along the raw edge.
Both of these flowers were made this way. So was the little red one on the top. See how the different textures of material make a difference with the same technique? The coral flower is made with a knit and the aqua one is made with a cotton broad clothe.
Maggie got to make her very own flowers!
She was so excited to use a needle and thread!
Step 3: After you've made several flowers, start attaching them to your wreath. I like to start in the middle and work my way out on both sides. Make sure you use a good amount of glue only in the center of each flower, that way you can add filler in behind the flowers. Then once you get a few flowers glued on start adding in some filler. One of the most important parts of making a wreath is using lots of layers...otherwise it will turn out looking really flat.
Keep adding more flowers and filler...keep going too, because I know it doesn't look like much at this point, but the more you add, the better it will start to look!
Step 4: Make more flowers. For this flower you are going to need felt. Use a strip that is 3" wide by about 24" long. Fold it in half and glue the raw edges together.
Once the whole strip is glued together start cutting in notches on the folded edge...just be sure not to cut all the way to the raw edge.
Once the whole strip has the edges snipped, start rolling and glueing.
It's really full and super cute when it's done.
I like my wreaths to be pretty full so I add lots of filler in between the flowers. For the ribbon, I just layered two different types of ribbon, a grosgrain and a glittery ribbon, on top of each other and glued them in.
Another filler is tulle. Just layer that in behind the greenery and little flowers.
This is a good shot of all the filler layered together.
Step 5: Add your buttons to the centers of your flowers. I really like shank buttons so there are no holes in the centers, but any cute ones will do!
Hopefully that helped. They are a little time consuming, but totally worth it in the end!
Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can with an answer!
