How To Make A Rag Wreath For Valentine’s Day

Everyone pretty much knows how to make a rag wreath. Cut some strips, attach them to a frame, and voila! You have a beautiful wreath to hang up for Valentine’s day. But, if you want your rag wreath to be fluffy and texturized, I have a few tricks you might find helpful.

MAKE A RAG WREATH THAT’S NICE AND FLUFFY

I have seen and watched many rag wreath tutorials over the years and I have noticed a few similarities.

• They usually recommend 1-inch strips.
• Those strips are often cut with a circular cutter and a cutting mat to get perfect strips.
• They don’t usually have a certain colour palette in mind.

Forget that jazz!

My trick to a really texturized wreath is to keep my strips smaller and rip them into strips instead of cutting.

Ripping creates lots of texture (including some texture you don’t want, like loose threads) but that texture adds a lot of interest to the wreath.

I am not a big fan of the perfect looking rag wreaths; I want my rag wreath to actually look raggy! You know- a couple of raw edges, puckered fabric, and a bit of errant thread are perfectly fine additions.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLOURS MAKES THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE

The biggest take away from this project: If you want your wreath colours to work well together, make sure your fabrics all compliment each other.

Beyond the tips and tricks to get that wreath full and lively, picking the right colors to go together will make or break your wreath.

This wreath was made with strips of solid pink matching fabric and matching patterned ribbons. The colours all worked exceptionally well together, and I credit that to the Moda fat quarter kit I purchased.

Since the colours were already picked to match one another, I didn’t have to stress too much. I only had to fuss finding ribbon that matched my fabric.

You don’t need to purchase a full-fat quarter kit, but you can see in the photo below how easy it was for me to pick a few fabrics that matched and worked well together.

This is the third project I made from my pink ombre Moda fat quarter set!

I STILL have fabric leftover, even after making a few Valentine’s Day treat bags, and this raggy pink wreath. I’m starting to run out of pink project ideas, but I have several fat quarters left and lots and lots of scraps.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS REQUIRED TO MAKE A RAG WREATH

For this Valentine’s day wreath, I used 8 different fat quarters (2 yards of material) and 3 spools of matching ribbon for my wreath.

The ribbon I used added additional texture (I love my texture) and some patterns. I really loved how the ribbon looked and wish I had used more!

The trick to pulling together a really pretty wreath like this is to make sure your fabrics complement one another. I chose 5 pinks that were variant colours of one another (light to dark) and then 3 spools of ribbon that matched my fabrics.

You can do this with any colour you wish of course!

I honestly think this wreath would be super cute for St Patrick’s day done on a clover wreath frame with green fabrics and plaid ribbons.

You get the idea.

MATERIALS

• 2 yards of yarn (I used this Pink Fat Quarters Set Moda Fabrics)
• Wire Wreath Frame 14″
• 3 spools of ribbon ( 1/4 inch wide, x 10 yards per spool)

TOOLS

• Measuring tape
• Scissors (I absolutely LOVE these Fiskars Razor-edge Softgrip Scissors)

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN RAG WREATH AT HOME

Here are instructions to make this rag wreath including step by step photos.

STEP 1: RIP THE RAG STRIPS

The easiest way to rip your strips is to create squares 8×8, notch them at 1/2 inch increments and just tear down the notch.  You can stack each 8×8 square 4 layers thick.

Ripping all your strips takes no time at all and if you happen to be having a frustrating day, it’s a great way to relax.

Just sayin’!

Make sure you use a good quality fabric, especially if you plan on ripping. I was going to use a patterned pink fabric that I had kicking around, but that fabric did not rip well at all. It created a very ragged edge, and pulled too much threading, making the fabric weak and see-through.

You can see what I mean in the photo below.

STEP 2: CLEAN UP LEFTOVER THREADS

Making your strips smaller creates puckers and bends in the fabric. It’s almost like curling ribbon! You can see in the photo below what I mean.

See how crinkly and wrinkly the fabric is after ripping? That’s the look we want.

Try to avoid straightening the strips, leave them all ragged, but do clean up some of the threads. There will be SO many threads but they do pull away easily and clean up quickly.

You can always trim them up after the rag wreath is finished as well.

STEP 3: CUT THE RIBBONS

I recommend cutting the ribbon pieces a bit longer. It’s quite a nice touch to have ribbon pieces poking out a bit beyond the fabric. Cutting the ribbon pieces longer gives them a bit more visibility too.

For this wreath, I went ahead and cut all of the ribbons 9 inches in length.

Once all of the ribbon and fabric is cut, add all the pieces to a big pile and mix them up. Make sure everything is well distributed.

No need to follow any colour pattern for this wreath. Just mix your fabric and ribbon pieces into a big messy pile and pull out strands at random.

It’s more fun that way!

STEP 4: START ADDING FABRIC STRIPS

So, my trick to getting a fluffy wreath is to use small width strips (1/2 instead of an inch) and add them to the wreath form in doubles.

Doubling the strips adds so much volume and texture. Every section has double the fabric ends and double colours – it really does make a difference when you make the strips thinner.

To add the strips to the wreath, follow the pattern listed below.

• Add the two strips to the outside two metal bars of the metal wreath form and tie them with a single knot.
• Move inside to the middle two metal bars and add two strips with a single knot.
• Move to the two inner metal bars and tie on another double set of fabric pieces.
• Continue around the wreath in this way until your wreath is completely full.

You can see in the photo below how the back of the wreath looks when you follow the pattern.

If you mess up, it does not matter-no one will ever know. Just keep going! Y

ou can cover your mistake by just adding more strips and you won’t even be able to tell.

Plus, I will never tell anyone – so, your secret is safe with me!

Actually, if you look closely, you can see all the mistakes I made. I blame the wine I was drinking while making the wreath.

STEP 5: MAKE SURE IT’S AS FLUFFY AS POSSIBLE

Another tip to ensure your rag wreath turns out full and fluffy is to keep pressing those strips together to make more room on the wreath for as many strips as will fit.

Push the tied down strips back as far as they will go and keep adding double sets of fabric until the section cannot take any more fabric.

STEP 6: TIDY UP

Once your wreath is full and you cannot possibly fit any more strips, or you run out (whichever comes first), it’s time to tidy up.

This is the time to snip any longish ends (not the ribbons), but make sure your wreath is even and there are no super long pieces sticking out here or there.  Just give them a little snip here and there.

Do the same with the inside of the wreath as well, tidying up so that the opening is round(ish).

This is also the time to clean up more of those threads. Leaving behind a few threads here and there does add a bit of rustic charm to your wreath.

Fluff, and voila!

A FLUFFY PINK RAG WREATH FOR VALENTINE’S DAY.

I made this wreath for Valentine’s Day.  I wanted something bright and poppy to shake the winter blahs away.

But, this pretty pink wreath would look sweet in a nursery. It would also look so cute above a candy bar or part of your holiday celebrations. Done up in all yellows, it would also make a pretty spectacular spring wreath.

Check out this post for another cheap DIY wreath that can be adapted for any holiday.

The trick is to make your rag wreaths look raggy, not perfect. It doesn’t matter the colour, the fabric, or even if you use the ribbons or not; just be sure to double your fabric strips and stuff in as many as you can.

Have fun!