Fall Fabric Flower Wreath {a tutorial}

During a trip to Ocean City, Maryland this summer, I saw a beautiful burlap seashell wreath at one of the shops on the boardwalk and figured I could save at least half of the $44 pricetag if I made my own.  So I purchased a few seashells, starfish, and sand dollars, and when we got home I picked up a wire wreath form and some burlap at my local craft store.  And everything sat on the baker’s rack in the kitchen for months.  It’s well past seashell season, so I thought I could use some of the materials to make an appropriate fall-themed wreath instead.  Turns out I think I like this version even better than a seashell wreath!

Materials:

• 18-inch wire wreath frame
• 12” (1/3 yard) burlap fabric (you can also buy a spool of burlap ribbon if you prefer)
• black jute twine
• various fall hued cotton fabric scraps
• pinking shears
• 10 assorted buttons in assorted fall colors
• DMC floss in assorted fall colors
• spool of bow ribbon
• heavy duty starch
• pinking shears
• glue gun

1.  Cut burlap fabric using scissors or rotary cutter in six 2” strips.  Wrap the wire frame with burlap, beginning on the backside.  Glue the first go-around to itself to anchor the burlap securely in place, then continue wrapping, slightly overlapping so that none of the wire shows.  Glue the last go-around to the backside.  If the strip ends on the front, just trim a little bit off so you can glue it to the back.  Continue with the next strip of burlap.  Wrap the entire wire frame.  Trim off any little “threads” of burlap that are sticking out.

2.  Tie off the jute twine at the top of your wreath.  Then wrap in an “x” design around the entire frame.  When you get back to the top, make several loops and tie securely, so you have a hanging loop.  Hot glue this loop in place.

The wreath should look like this.

3.  Now for the fun part!  Grab your fabric scraps and pick out an assortment of fall hued fabrics.  I chose mostly yellow, orange, brown, and green, but mixed in a bit of cream and black because I want this wreath to work for both fall and Halloween.  The black jute twine and cream & black fabrics give the wreath a bit of a spooky/edgy feel. 

You will need a total of 40 fabric circles, so repeated fabrics are fine!  Start by starching the heck out of your scraps.  You don’t want the flowers to look limp or wrinkly. 

Find 4 different sized circular household items (I chose the ribbon spool, a spool of washi tape, the bottom of the starch can, and the lid of the starch can.) 

Trace each size 10 times on fabric (for a total of 40 circles).  You can use a magic marker or fabric marking pen.  Just write lightly so the ink doesn’t show through the fabric.

Cut out with pinking shears.

4.  Start making your flowers by layering 4 circles together.  Pick a button and sew together through all four layers of fabric with DMC floss.  Thread that contrasts with the button color adds more interest to the flower.

5.  Make a bow with your ribbon for the bottom of the wreath.  I just totally winged it, but there are plenty of tutorials online for making wreath bows.  Glue your bow to the bottom of your wreath, then arrange your flowers around the rest of the blank space.  When you are happy with the arrangement, glue the flowers to the burlap with a dime-sized glue dab in the center of the back of each flower. 

6.  Hang wreath on front door!

What a gorgeous way to brighten up your front door for fall!

This is scrap project #4 of 52.  Have a wonderful weekend!