create (Mama)

In this technology age, I am probably not the only one who's created a wreath form out of t-shirts. But I've developed this method without referencing anyone else, which, I think, is as close as we can get to original these days (smile). Our wreath journey continues!

Reclaimed Wreath, Part II

Yesterday we ended up here: 

Next we'll match our bound end to the end of the other shirt, right before the sleeve section. (We'll need the rest of the sleeve later to secure the two pieces together.) Tape the ends together.

 Now take the bottom sleeve and wrap it around the roll of the second shirt. If tightly wrapped, it should end at the other end of the roll like the picture below. 

Now take the second sleeve and do the same thing, continuing to wrap it tightly around the wreath. To keep it from unraveling bind it with pieces of packing tape like you did before, leaving space in-between. Then do the same for the second shirt: match up the ends, wrap around the sleeves, and bind.

Now we have a wreath of our shirts, but it's not very sturdy yet. Our final layer will fix that. Take the packing tape and, overlapping it slightly, make your way all around the wreath pulling it tight. This makes it really sturdy and makes sure that all of our hard work holds together.

Now find your husband's old corduroy pants with the recurring hole. These were much loved pants, which refused to stay mended for long. We battled it out, them and I, and finally they ended up in my fabric bag waiting for their next home...

I think this one will work quite nicely. Before wrapping the corduroy strips (about an inch and half wide) around the wreath form, I made my hook first. I decided where the top would be, then tied both ends of a piece of strong ribbon around the wreath. Then, hook in place, I began to wrap my corduroy around the wreath. I kept my glue gun handy and glued it down time to time as I added the next strip or if an area was refusing to lay flat. I also found some areas to be thinner than others so I used my corduroy to wrap an extra layer or two in the thinner areas to bulk them up. The end result was a very sturdy wreath, covered and ready for decoration.

One more step to go!