Tag: home decor

DIY Valentine’s Day Lace Heart Garland

Sarah Leave a comment

DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

Although we don’t typically do a lot to celebrate Valentine’s Day at our house, we do decorate a wee bit. It’s nice to have a few pretty things around the house in the dead of winter. I especially enjoy a pretty wreath on the door (I get so sad when I take down my Christmas wreath). A wreath on the door always makes me smile when I arrive home. This year, I decided to spruce up our twig wreath with a shabby chic inspired garland. Annnd… I even remembered to document the process thoroughly so I could share it as a tutorial with all my lovely readers! That’s my bit of Happy Valentine’s to YOU!

Now, the number of hearts to make for your garland is up to you (that’s why no material amounts have been given in the supply list below). I just made three (two large & one small) to symbolize my small family of three. Also, as you will see, I attached this short garland to a wreath. If you want a longer garland to hang, say from your fireplace mantel, then you will need to cut & stitch more hearts (you could alternate small & large hearts, some lace covered, some not).

DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum SassHere are the supplies you will need for this project:

  • Bubblegum Sass Heart Template
  • Red craft felt
  • Pink craft felt
  • White or light-coloured lace
  • Buttons
  • Lace trim or ribbon (to hang hearts from)
  • Sharpie or fabric marker
  • Thread
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Print off and cut out the heart template (or use your own preferred heart template). Using a sharpie, trace around the template onto the felt.
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Trace out your heart template onto the lace, as well. *For perfectionists, see note below (in sewing section) for a tip on cutting out the lace.*
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Cutting just inside the marked line, cut out each heart shape.
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Repeat above steps for all sizes of hearts in both felt & lace. For my short garland, I cut out: two large felt hearts, two large lace hearts, and one small felt heart.
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Lay one lace heart over a matching felt heart, lining up the edges. Pin into place, as the lace tends to stretch & move a bit. Using a sewing machine zigzag stitch, sew all the way around the heart. Repeat with remaining hearts that you wish to layer with lace & felt. *If you really want your lace hearts perfectly lined up with the felt hearts (I know there are perfectionists among us), then I suggest cutting your lace hearts out slightly larger than the felt hearts, zig zag stitching them on and then trimming the edge of the lace so it is even with the felt.*
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Choose your buttons and stitch onto each heart, either on the left or right upper corner of the heart.
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Measure and cut the length of lace trim/ribbon that you will hang the hearts from (mine was about one meter or 39″, but of course cut whatever length is going to work for your own project. A longer garland will require a longer lace trim/ribbon.) Fold this in half and mark the half-way point (with a pin). Position your center heart here and pin into place, along the back of the heart.
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Position remaining hearts along the lace trim/ribbon, pinning into place on the backside. Tip: Place your lace trim/ribbon on the upper part of the heart, or else the hearts tend to flip over once hung. Once pinned into place, use a hot glue gun to attach the lace trim, removing pins as you work. If you would prefer, you can stitch the lace trim/ribbon into place.
DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
Voila! A pretty lace heart garland to hang. Besides using it to decorate for Valentine’s Day, I think it would be a sweet addition to a baby room. And of course, you could make it in any combination of colours.

DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

DIY Lace Heart Garland ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass
My completed project, with the lace heart garland attached to our twig wreath & hung on the front door. The wreath, by the way, is one that my hubby made for fun one year out of lilac bush branches.

In The Studio: Dyeing Lace Trims DIY

Sarah Leave a comment

DIY Lace Trim Dyeing ~ Tutorial Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

I realized early on in my making of the Love Catchers, that I was going to need a steady supply of lace trim to decorate them. Now, I try to use as much upcycled materials & materials that I have on hand as possible, but it’s hard to resist some new embellishments. It is possible to buy ready-made colourful lace trims (which I have done), but I felt a bit limited by colour choices and widths. So often I would find a package of lace trims online that were the perfect colour (there’s hardly any trim readily available locally), but the package would contain short lengths of various widths, many too wide for the Love Catchers.

I finally decided that to flush out my selection of trims, I would purchase plain cotton, dyeable lace trim in large quantities and then dye them myself. Mostly I want to focus on making the Love Catchers themselves, and with limited time for all the crafting, I chose to purchase ready-made dyes to simplify the process. The supplies for this adventure were purchased online at the Dharma Trading Co. or were items I already had on hand. Dharma Trading Co. does offer natural plant dye options, if you would prefer to dive into that. I ordered a small selection of Tumble Dye. The fact that you could spray or dip dye with them appealed to me. Also, lovely selection of colours!

Suggested Supplies:

  • Dyeable lace trim
  • Bottles of Tumble Dye
  • Rubber gloves
  • Glass pan or large glass measuring cup
  • Flat plastic trays or baking sheets
    (For air drying the lace. I used the plastic lids from some storage containers)
  • Dryer

 

Hand Dyed Lace Trim ~ DIY Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

TumbleDyeColours

I wet the lace before applying any dye. Then I laid the lace out in the glass pan and sprayed it with the dye. Then I flipped the lace over and sprayed it a bit more. I didn’t pre-mix any dyes, but did combine some of the dyes simply by alternating which one I sprayed, to achieve desired colours.

Once enough dye has been sprayed on, wring the lace trim, allowing the excess water and dye to fall into the glass pan. Then place the lace trim back into the excess dye, rub it in a bit, flip the lace over and rub in the remaining dye. I did this step, to ensure there wasn’t any large white spots on the trim. *see note below*

Hand Dyed Lace Trim ~ DIY Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

Once you’ve got the lace trim the colour & hue you want, lay it out on a plastic try or baking sheet and let it air dry completely. Once it’s dry, pop it into the dryer for about 20min (I just used our medium heat setting). So far I have just been using the lace trim for my Love Catchers, which do not go into the wash. According to the instructions, putting the dyed items into the dryer should set the colour, but I haven’t personally tried washing any of them yet.

Hand Dyed Lace Trim ~ DIY Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

Viola! Pretty, pretty lace trims in a rainbow of colours, ready to be made into even prettier things!

Hand Dyed Lace Trim ~ DIY Blog Post ~ By Bubblegum Sass

*If you wish to a achieve a much more even dye colour, just pour some of the dye into the glass pan, and do a dip-dye method instead of using the spray applicator. I prefer the spray applicator to achieve the vintage shabby chic look, but it’s up to you.*

Keep experimenting (I know I still am) and have fun with your dyeing projects!