Easy DIY: How to Make a Lighted Fabric Garland
This is one of my favorite DIY projects, hands down! I love the final product, it is so easy (just two steps), and only requires three supplies. Plus, you can use it for any holiday by changing up your fabric choices. I first did this project several years ago, making one for Christmas, but I have also created others for other holidays since then. This year we will be celebrating Christmas in a new home, so I wanted to create a new and special lighted fabric garland for the space. It’s the perfect opportunity to walk through the process!
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Steps to Make a Fabric Garland
When I say this is an easy project, I am not kidding! You only need three supplies, and I am almost certain you already have a pair of scissors on hand, so it’s really only two things that you need to get.
supplies Needed
The hardest part is probably picking out the fabric. For this project, I found this jelly roll of vintage holiday fabric on Amazon that was perfect. But really any fabric that you like the look of will work! I liked these fabrics becuase they looked good on both sides. Some printed fabrics have a backside that doesn’t look as nice as the front and you will see both sides of the fabric on this project.
Step 1: Cutting the fabric
There is no exact size that the fabric pieces have to be, but I find somewhere between 9-11 inches in length works well. You want them to be long enough to tie but not so long that they will get too floppy. 2-3 inches works well for the width. Play around with it if you’re not sure.
Buying fabric in a jelly roll is great because the patterns often coordinate and they are usually a good width. These were 2.5 inches wide and the length of each piece was 42 inches. So I simply cut each peice into 4 and they were the perfect size!
Step 2: Tying the fabric to the lights
Once you have all of the fabric cut, it’s time to tie it to the light string. I like the light strings that are around 10 feet long for this, it’s the perfect garland size. But you can definitely go longer if you want to.
To attach it, simply tie it to the string. I just do one knot and it’s good to go! You can follow specific a pattern but don’t need to be exact. I just made sure that I kept the same number of pieces between the light bulbs.
Summary
And that’s it! I told you it was easy. And the best part is you don’t have to limit this to Christmas. It would also work great with fall or Halloween-themed fabric, Valentine’s Day fabric, or anything else you can think of. When my daughter went through a Harry Potter phase a few years ago I made her one with the Harry Potter house colors and some black and white fabrics.
Like this project? Check out these other DIY Tutorials:
- Feather Christmas Tree DIY
- How to Paint a Mirror Frame
- Learn How to Paint Wood Furniture
- Lining Drawers in Furniture and Cabinets
As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Make sure to sign up for my newsletter to get the latest furniture and DIY projects delivered directly to your inbox!