Create a fun and festive garland with left over or seasonally-colored fabric with this super easy DIY fabric garland tutorial! Our step-by-step guide for how to make a fabric garland (without sewing!) will help you decorate your home or party for cheap!
Do you ever walk into a store, see something you want for your home, realize how easy it would be to make it yourself, and then actually do it?
That’s what happened with me and this garland!
I was shopping at Hobby Lobby and saw this really fun felt fabric garland in their fall decor section, but it was $20 (which seemed high to me) AND not exactly the colors I’d want in my home.
Thus, I decided to buy my own fabric and just make my own!
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I still had some left over string and the yarn needles I got for my last garland tutorial, so a simply purchased a bit of fabric and was on my way!
This DIY is rather simple, although it did take me a few hours to cut all the fabric and thread it onto the string.
My favorite part about it was the fact that I could make it using the colors I wanted!
I love how it looks on my mantel – have I mentioned how much I love having garlands on my seasonal mantels?!
Where to Hang a DIY No Sew Fabric Garland
There are lots of places you could hang your fabric garland, but my favorites are:
- Hanging on a fireplace mantel
- Draped over a mirror
- Hanging on a blanket ladder
- Resting on a shelf or table
- Draped around a cork or white board
- Hanging from a headboard
- Draped along the top of wainscoting
- Hanging in front of open shelves
- Draping from a chandelier
Have fun with your garland – try it in one spot and if after a few days you’re not loving it, switch it somewhere else!
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Preparing to Make Your Fabric Garland
Length
The first thing you’ll need to decide is how long you want your garland to be.
I always make mine about 6′ long because I know that’s the right length for hanging it on my mantel with one swag in the middle.
For your space, measure where you’d like to hang it and determine what length of garland will be needed to get the look you want.
Making it for someone else or not sure what length you want? Then go with the standard 6 feet.
I found that one section with a color of fabric pieces usually covered about 3″ of garland, so I used 25 color sections to cover my 6′ garland.
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Fabric
As you prepare to purchase the fabric for your garland, think about the look you’re wanting to get.
Thin fabrics will look less robust, where as thick fabrics will give it some more umph.
Cotton fabrics will lay flatter than felt or fleece fabrics.
Most fabrics will fray, with the exception of fleece.
I chose to go with variations of fleece to avoid the fraying edges but still give it a variety of style.
In my garland, the muted orange is a thick fleece, the white a simple fleece, the grey a thin fleece, and the navy a velvet/fleece combo.
Colors
Depending on what you’re making this DIY fabric garland for, you’ll want to select colors that go with your other decor.
I made the one pictured in this tutorial for my fall decor, so I chose muted fall colors for my fabric.
If you want one that works all year, without being seasonal, consider making it with neutrals like white, black, grey, cream, tan, and/or brown.
Pattern
This fabric garland banner can be made with any pattern of colors.
The one pictured is done with 10 small pieces of fabric for each color block alternating between white and the three other colors.
BUT, the beauty of DIY is that you get to choose what pattern you want yours to have!
You could add more small pieces of fabric to each block, making the color sections larger.
Or you could do a color pattern different than I chose.
The options are endless!
DIY Fabric Garland No Sew Tutorial
For a printable copy of the materials and instructions, scroll down.
Materials Needed:
- 1/4 yard of four fabrics (I chose versions of felt so they wouldn’t fray)
- String
Tools Needed:
Time:
2 Hours
How to Make a Fabric Garland Banner
STEP 1: Cut the fabric strips.
Begin by measuring and marking 5″ along one strip of your fabric.
I marked the 5″ spot every 4-6 inches or so along the entire side.
After you’ve marked it all the way along the side, use your fabric scissors to cut a 5″ strip off the end of your fabric.
Then, use that strip as a guide for cutting strips out of all of the rest of your fabric.
I ended up cutting 2 strips of each color and 3 strips out of white.
How many strips you cut will depend on how long your garland is and how many times you use the fabric.
For example, I needed more white than the other colors because I did white in between each of the other colors.
STEP 2: Cut the fabric pieces.
Next, cut the strips into 1″ pieces.
No need to measure the 1″ mark, just eye-ball it.
These don’t need to be perfect – having small differences actually make it more fun!
To make it faster, I folded some of the strips in half so I could cut two strips at a time.
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STEP 3: Thread fabric pieces onto the string.
Once you have all your strips prepped, it’s time to start assembling the garland!
Unwrap your string to your desired length but don’t cut it quite yet.
Just lay it out so you can push your fabric strips to the end as you go.
To thread the fabric pieces, pinch them with your fingers like so:
Then thread your string through the strip by going through both sides of the pinch like this:
Thread groups of 10 strips of each color onto the string in your pattern of choice and push them to the end of your estimated string length as you go.
Repeat this step until you’ve reached your overall desired length for the garland.
STEP 4: Tie off the garland ends.
To finish the garland, cut your string at the far end, tie simple loops at each end for hanging and then trim off the excess string.
And with that, you’re done!
Easy, right? I love how playful and stylish this garland ends up looking.
As promised, here are the printable instructions:
DIY No-Sew Fabric Garland
A stylish and playful garland perfect for your seasonal or party decor!
Materials
Instructions
- Measure and mark 5" along the entire side of one of your pieces of fabric then cut the 5" strip.
- Use that strip as a guide for cutting 2-3 strips out of all your fabric colors.
- Cut each of those strips into 1" pieces.
- Thread the 1" pieces onto your string by pinching them in the middle and threading the needle up through the pinched section.
- Thread groups of 10 pieces per color onto your string until you reach your desired length for the garland.
- Tie off both ends of the garland with loops for hanging and cut off the excess string.
I’m actually tempted to make one for every season. 😉
Another idea you could do with these is a photo backdrop – you could make 6-8 of them and hang them vertically against a wall!
Whatever you choose to make one for, I’m sure it’ll add some fun style to your space.
Have fun, and as always, let me know if you have any questions!
What a fun idea to put them on a Christmas tree! I may have to make some with drop cloth material and do that too! 🙂
This looks so cool, thank you for the tutorial! I’m going to try making some to use on my Christmas tree this year 🙂