Sewn Christmas Garland by Nina
Tis the season for Christmas projects and preparations – at least for those who want to get a head start. 
And in that spirit I’d love to share with you a tutorial for making some delightful Christmas garlands. I really dig garlands for several reasons: They’re so festive; it’s a great way to use up scraps; they work well as home decor, on scrapbook pages and a million other places and projects.
Also, they’re both fast and easy to make! So grab the following things and let’s get started. You’ll need:
1. The Merry Christmas stamp set by swissgirlDesigns.
2. A sewing machine. (I use the cheap Ikea one and it works like a charm. No fancy settings needed.)
3. Patterned papers/scraps.
4. Circle punches. (I happen to have two but one size circles will do fine. I used a 1.5″ and 2″ Fiskars Squeeze punch.)
5. Inks and acryllic blocks.
Now let’s get stamping! Here I used Frost White pigment ink on kraft. A great look for snowflakes. 
Notice how my papers aren’t even winter/Christmas themed. By stamping these beautiful wintery images on the papers they suddenly transform into something way more fitting for Christmas.
So after stamping and punching we’ll end up with this batch of circles. Depending on what you’re using the garland for (and how far you space the circles apart on the string) you’ll need to adjust the number of circles you make. I’ve made a few for hanging around the house and I used 10-15 circles per garland.
We’re already at the point of assembling this now! So get your sewing machine out and just set it to whatever you usually do when sewing paper.
Tip: Lay out the circles in the order you wish them to be on the garland. That way you can avoid odd-looking repeats of too many of the same patterned/sized circles right after another.
Pull the string a bit long before you start sewing the first circle on, so you have a bit to play with when hanging your garland later on (if that’s your plan). Simply sew straight through the circle.
Once you’ve sewn across the first circle, keep on sewing while you gently pull the circle away from yourself. You wanna keep the string taut so that it doesn’t tangle. Stop sewing once you’ve achieved the right spacing for your taste. Lift the foot and set it down again on the very edge of the next circle you’ll be adding. Then commence the sewing.
You see how easy this is? Just keep adding circles and remember to keep the string at the end long (like you did at the start of the garland). This gives you room to play. You could add a jingle bell at the bottom or some other cute bit.
Tada! You’re done and ready to dress up your home, your layout, a gift or something else with a beautiful homemade garland.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
Xoxo,
Nina
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