Pieced Paper Garlands!

This time of year, I begin to crave color! I have had enough of the monochromes of white, grey, and brown! 

Garlands are a great way to add color and levity to a drab environment. They are like jewelry for your house. I suppose they signify special occasions. They are adornments that add significance to a house, a tree, a window, a door, or a statue. While garlands were originally made of leaves or flowers, you can make your own lasting garlands from paper.

This garland making method was originated by artist and my sister, Lisa Manning. She came up with the ingenious method of sewing through the thread to as a way to string together the pieces.

​If you do not have a sewing machine, you could fix the pieces of paper together by gluing to shapes together and sandwiching the string in between or by using an awl or small hole punch to create holes through which you string your pieces onto a string. Then tie each piece with the garland string to prevent it from shifting.

Materials:

• a sheet of watercolor paper 9” x 12” (more or less depending on the length of your garlands)
• watercolor, acrylic, or tempera paints 
• crayons
• thick string or yarn (1.5 – 3 yards)
• sewing machine 
• scissors

Once your paper has dried, cut it into strips measuring approximately 1″ wide.

Then cut your strips into 1” squares.

You could sew your squares into a garland, or cut them into circles, hearts, or another shape.

​It’s helpful to have a good pair or sharp scissors.

With your shapes all cut out, choose string that is about as thick as embroidery floss. It has to be thick enough to be sewn on a sewing machine.

Before sewing, make loop out of the end of the string and drape it over your first shape.

Place the loop on your first paper shape and stitch down. Make sure to backstick so that your sewing doesn’t come undone, and make sure to pierce the string most of the time.

It’s OK if you doff the string and just sew through the paper some of the time, but try to sew through the string most of the time. The string adds strength to your garland.

Continue to add paper shapes until you run out or until your string ends.

To finish your garland, make a loop on the last shape like you did at the beginning on the first shape. Make sure to backstitch to ensure your garland stays together. 

After you are finished with your garland, wrap it around a piece of cardboards for storage to prevent tangling.