Originally, I marketed these as scarves to our son's classroom as a craft (using school colors, so everyone would carry that school spirit with them, of course!) When my husband saw me with the finished product, he said, "Wow--neat garland!" Hello! Never occurred to me! So of course you know I had to go get more fleece and create a garland for a special friend who has the most beautiful snowman tree...
Start off at your local fabric store. Here in Ohio, I use Jo Ann's. No need for a coupon--fleece is 50% off this time of year! Gotta love that! Select 3 colors of fleece for your project--you'll need about half a yard of each for this project. (Note: The fleece I used was 54" in length. Your store might have options.)
Cut the fleece into 4" wide strips. I got fat quarters at Jo Ann's--and those were an additional half off--and it gave me enough to make five of these bad boys! I used scissors--but feel free to use a rotary cutter and mat if you have one.
Sandwich three of the fleece pieces together (one of each color)--and sew a straight seem up the middle. No need to be neat about this--just take my word for it. Next, start making half-inch cuts on both sides, being careful to NOT CUT THE SEAM. When you've made your half-inch cuts on both sides of the fabric, shake the scarf/garland, and this is what you'll have...
Now, a few items to mention. Don't use the tip of your scissors--especially when working with children--get that fleece in the scissor well so it will cut through all three pieces of the fabric at once. The possibilities here are endless! I think my Valentine tree will need one, no? And what about St. Patrick's Day? And of course, I didn't even touch on the possibilities with felt. Like I said--the possibilities!! I hope you give it a try and enjoy the process!
ETA: Look for the fleece blankets that go on sale this time of year, and don't be afraid to use those for the class projects (I got 4 blankets for a dollar last year in our school colors of blue and gold--so I only had to purchase the white fleece...which made this project really affordable, too!)
Also, with the boys in the classroom--my second grade son said the same thing--and opted for a straight scarf with fringes only at the edges (so I sewed the blue and gold together, and then turned the fabric inside out. We tied the ends, and he cut fringes on those.) Out of 12 boys in the class, only TWO opted for the straight scarves. The rest wanted fringes (I was a bit surprised by that! I think the school colors thing won them over.) Hope that helps!
Oh, and one more thing while you're at the dollar store...the socks are also half off for the sock wreaths! :) Love the bargains!
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