Whirlygig Snowflake Garland Tutorial

Earlier this week I made this Christmas garland out of yo-yo thing-a-ma-jigs and I must say, I'm rather pleased with it!  Thought I'd share how it was made with all you lovely people as it really is easy peasy.  A great project to do with crafty older kiddies, perhaps?

Had a dilemma as to what to call these but I think I'm keen on a couple of names friends/family have suggested.  I've mixed them together to make this the Whirlygig Snowflake Garland, thanks to Jan and Vanessa - bit of a mouthful, but hey, it's Christmas (nearly!)

Ok, but how do we make them?  I hear you cry! To the point . . . . .

1.   Cut several circles of fabric in 3 different sizes: 10, 15 and 20cm across. You could use all the same fabric or a mixture of patterns and colours.  I used offcuts of Kate Spain's gorgeous 'Joy' collection. Lay the circle face down.

 

 

2. Double over a length of cotton and tie the end.  Fold over the edge of the circle. . .

 

 

3. . . . pull the cotton all the way through.

 

 

 

4. Sew a running stitch all the way around the circle, folding a seam inwards to the wrong side as you go.  Keep the stitches fairly large at about 1 or 1 . 5 cms.

 

 

 

5. When you have finished, your cirlce will look like this . . .

 

 

 

6. . . and like this on the right side.

 

 

7. Pull the cotton to gather the circle in on itself.

 

 

 

 

 

8. When the cotton is pulled fully, your fabric should now look a little like this. Ta-da!  Push the needle through the centre and out the other side.

 

 

 

9. Fasten the cotton on the reverse of the fabric.

 





 

 

10. Et Voila!  Your first whirlygig snowflake!

 

 



 

 

11. Take all your different sized cirlces and repeat until you have enough for the length of garland you require.  Arrange them so that different sizes are next to each other and run a length of cotton through each one.  You can experiment with where you thread them.  Different positions give various looks. . . lots of lovely variations are possible!

 

 



 

 

So there you are, a super-cute garland to hang from shelves, fireplaces or Christmas trees - wherever takes your fancy!

Right, off to finish second craft fair prep - Starting to feel a bit Christmassy now!