Make It: DIY Burlap Garland

As we get closer to the holidays and the launch of the first-ever Lina and Vi Holiday collection, I have been focused on designing home decor pieces that are chic, rustic, warm, and affordable. Being our collections focus on re-purposed coffee sack burlap, I have a lot of burlap scrap pieces which were originally cut for one of our Grounds bags to use. These past few weeks have been filled with new ideas for pieces that incorporate burlap in some unique way, to enhance a room so it feels thoughtful and personal.

Recently, I created a new, non-sewn home decor piece for the holiday collection - a burlap garland! This fun item will be available for purchase in our Etsy shop when the collection launches on November 24th, however I enjoyed making this so much, I wanted to share how I made it with you as a DIY project.

This is one of those instant gratification projects that takes only one hour, a few supplies, and no sewing machine! I apologize in advance for the poor photo quality due to the overcast outside and the lack of lighting in my sewing room.

Supplies:

- scissors

- 1.5 yards burlap fabric

- .5 yard print fabric of your choice (optional)

- hand needle

- 2 safety pins

- beading twine ( at least 5 feet)

Steps:

1. First, you will need to use your scissors to cut out strips of both burlap and the printed fabric in the dimensions 7" by 2". For the garland you see here, we interspersed a red/gold and white/gold holiday print fabric to give it some depth and visual interest. It's okay if some of your strips aren't exactly the same - this is good. Some can be shorter and longer, and it gives the garland a softer look.

2. Second, thread your needle with the beading twine and ensure you tie a large knot at the end of the twine. If you chose not to use beading twine or can't find it (check the jewelry making or bead areas of your craft store), you can swap it with yarn or type of strong cording. Don't use standard thread - it is too weak. The burlap has weight, and this garland will be heavy so you don't want the thread to break under the weight when it's hanging in your home.

3. On the end of the twine that contains the knot, thread the twine through the eye of one of the safety pins and knot. Burlap has a large weave, and this will keep your knot from pulling through the burlap weave.

4. Then, take a strip of burlap and fold it in half. Thread the needle with twine through the center of the folded burlap. Put the needle down and open the safety pin and pin the safety pin to the side of that piece of burlap. Again, this ensure it stays secure at the end of the garland.

5. Follow step 4 as you continue to fold and thread each piece of burlap onto the twine. I added the printed fabric after a handful of burlap pieces, not counting or being very precise about it. I added four or five burlap pieces and then a piece of the holiday print fabric, again folding it in half with the printed side showing on the outside. In some cases, I would fold the burlap and fabric twice to make it more compact - again just to give it some depth. Push the pieces together on the twine to make it full.

6. Lastly, you will come to the end of the twine once you've threaded all of the strips of burlap and fabric. Tie a large knot again, thread the end piece through the second safety pin, and open the safety pin and pin it to the end piece of burlap. This garland ended up being 4.5 feet long, but your garland can be any size you'd like, just cut more strips of burlap. Trim the loose ends and you're finished!

This project is very simple but it's a lot of fun and the end result is a beautiful, unique garland that you can hang in your home over an entryway, on a fireplace mantle as shown here, or around your Christmas tree.

I love the look of this garland, and it's so simple to make, that I will likely make it again. I hope you give this DIY a try - burlap or any type of fabric/felt, and I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek of our Holiday collection. Remember to stop into our Etsy shop on November 24th to see all of our Holiday collection projects!

Erica