My First How-To...

I've been wanting to incorporate ideas, projects and parties into my blogging, so I'm beginning this new spot as my place to concentrate on that creative side of me, keeping my blog kimcanandsocanyou.blogspot.com as the home for my musings, thoughts and what-have-yous... 

So, here's what I'm creating today...

I love torn fabric. Particularly strips of it. I keep inexpensive muslin on hand as it makes the loveliest of gift-wrapping ribbon. But recently, when working on a surprise baby shower for a friend (let me clarify...the shower was the surprise, not the baby!), I was putting the ideas & design together and wanted to take it in a soft and vintagey direction. I decided to make a garland of torn-fabric and challenged myself to use what I had on hand. I had some soft pink muslin already, and searched my closets and hiding places for other fabrics. What I found was a well-loved Ralph Lauren sheet and an old Vera linen tablecloth, aged well-beyond it's usefulness. I did purchase a bit of pink-tiny-gingham to go along with the patterns and colors, cause I felt like pink-tiny-gingham needed to be there...

The garland looked beautiful, so I thought I'd share my "secrets" with you, just in case you'd like to try one. PS, I'm working on 1 or 2 that will be for sale in my shop, babyblackdog.etsy.com in case you'd rather purchase than make...

To begin a tear of any fabric, I make a tiny snip with scissors as a ripping-point (the width of the individual strips is up to you, but an inch or so is my favorite). Some fabrics don't do this well, but most tear with ease. You'll need to go with the grain, so if you snip on the wrong edge, just turn the fabric, snip and tear away. By the way, depending on my project, I like to use at least 1 1/2 yards of fabric so my strips will be that length (when tearing for ribbons, the more the yardage, the longer-and better- the ribbon will be for wrapping). 

For this particular event, I used regular twine as a base/holder/string-thing (profession terms!) for my garland, cause I liked the color, and probably 4-5 yards of it. I began in the middle of the length and slip knotted (slip knotting allows me to scoot the pieces about) a fabric strip. I repeat this process over and over, using my excellent-taste for deciding which pattern of fabric goes where. All total, I used approximately 40 strips, each about an inch and a half wide, each bumping next to one another, making the garland-part about 2 yards wide with a few extra feet of twine on either side for hanging. 

For this shower, I used a Rifle Paper Co (my favorite!) banner, spelling out the New Baby Name, in front of the garland, and we draped a quilt behind for creating a suitable focal point...

I'm making another garland for a different party, and purchased small amounts of specific fabrics to achieve the look I wanted. This one, an Ahoy It's a Boy! shower needed a different feel, thus the newer fabrics...The garland itself has 35 or so strips, and is perhaps a yard wide.

Of course, this garland isn't just for parties. To use it to embellish a window or over a crib would be lovely. The sky is the limit! Also, I found a display on Pinterest where the strips of fabric were hung on an embroidery hoop and used as a chandelier...it was stunning.

So. Wanted to share this method/idea/inspiration with you. Use it as a starting place and let creativity take you where "it" wants you to go... Let me know what you come up!