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DIY Fall Rag Wreath

By Melissa

on Nov 09, 2016, Updated Feb 26, 2020

A DIY Fall Rag Wreath is an easy way to use up your fabric stash and get your house decked out for the season. Pop in a movie and get to tying that fabric!

We’re taking a break from all the food to bring you a fun little craft project. The gardens are done for the year and it’s getting colder outside, so now it’s time to find indoor projects to work on. Fall decor, handmade Christmas, and catching up on my reading list are the first things I go to in the colder months. I loved this project and I think my DIY Fall Rag Wreath turned out really cute. I only used things that I already had on hand, which means it cost me nothing to make. In fact, I made two! One for my mantle and one for my front door. Our dream house will have double front doors, so I thought I might as well make two for “one day!” Give me two more years, and these wreaths will be on those fronts doors.

I had this grand vision of all the ways I would style this rag wreath for my photos. I thought of it hanging on a pretty colored front door, gracing a vintage door handle, leaning on a perfect mantel, and perched on the back of a dining room chair in a beautifully decorated kitchen. Then I started to take pictures, and reality set in. I have an unpainted white door that’s full of stains and finger prints (primer isn’t known for great washability and the thing has never been painted). I have no dining room chairs, just folding chairs and piano benches around my table.

Here’s what I’m getting at: I’m pretty good at styling pictures, but that doesn’t mean I live in a magazine. I sure hope our dream house will be gorgeous, but for right now I live in a little rental that’s a bit on the dumpy side. It’s drafty, has more mice than I’d like to admit (I’ve caught 6 this week!), and my bathroom is in my bedroom – yep, you can sit on the toilet and see my bed (really!). It’s quirky, old, and kind of dirty (the 5 kids living here doesn’t help much). One day I’ll be cooking in a lovely kitchen with a large island, new appliances, and a fancy backsplash lining the walls. In the meantime, I’ll be cooking in a homey kitchen full of sticky little fingers and a stove with three burners that work and a fridge held together by duct tape. Don’t let the pictures fool you – I’m pretty normal.

DIY FALL RAG WREATH

What you will need:

Around 150 pieces of 2″ by 6″ material – 5 fat quarters are just about the perfect amount
Wire Hanger or Wreath form
Rotary cutter and mat or scissors (the rotary cutter is really handy here – if you don’t have one, I’d find someone to borrow it from!)

Instructions:

1. Cut your fabric into 2 inch by 6 inch strips.
2. Bend and shape the wire hanger into a circle. The hook makes a perfect wreath hanger.
3. Tie the fabric strips onto the hanger. Scrunch them together tightly as you go. You can single or double knot – it doesn’t really matter.
4. Put on a movie and tie, tie, tie!
5. Continue to tie and scrunch the fabric together until the wreath is as full as you’d like. Fluff and twist the fabric so that it pokes out all over – the messier the better. You can add a bigger bow to the top where the hanger neck is, if you like.

Tips and tricks:

You can’t mess this up. It’s a great project for just about anyone who can tie a knot.

When it comes to fabric, buy or find a few that go well together and then throw in a few patterns that you might not adore on their own. Variety is what makes this rag wreath interesting. I did a lot of neutral colors (beige, tan, off white), and then I threw in oranges and greens. I do wish I would have found a darker tan or brown because my neutrals blend together more than I thought they would. I used all kinds of scraps, including an old pair of corduroy pant legs! This is a great project to use up things in your own cloth pile, so don’t feel like you need to go out and purchase fabric. Shopping your stash is much cheaper.

I used a wire hanger in this Christmas wreath (pictured below) and I used a 14-inch wreath form for this fall wreath. Using the wreath form meant that I needed three or four times the amount of fabric strips and my wreath is extra fluffy. Both are very cute, so decide based on the look you are going for. And because the wreath form has 4 layers of wire instead of just a single layer like a hanger would have, it takes about 4 times as long to make. 🙂

Bonus: it stores great! Just fluff it well before using again.

So cute! I hope you make a million. This would be a great project for kids to make for their teachers or grandparents too.