I bought a sewing machine in the summer and so far had managed to cobble together a couple of napkins. On a cost per use basis the little contraption was costing me a lot of money so I decided to let loose on a few sheets of card rather than fabric and whip up a garland.

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{You will need}
  • Large shaped punch. I used a folk heart from Hobbycraft
  • Gold card. I actually used a selection of glittered card gift tags
  • Sewing machine
  • Contrasting thread
  • Pencil
  • Scissors

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    Tutorial

    1. Take your punch and cut out multiple shapes from the card.
    2. Take one of the shapes and mark horizontally across the back about a third of the way down. Cut in two. The larger part will become your template.
    3. Flip over each of the remaining shapes and place the template across the back to mark a line with your pencil. This is the line to follow when you machine stitch.
    4. Thread up the sewing machine with desired cotton. I used black to contrast with the gold as it’s the only thread I had but if I make again I plan to use a zingy neon pink.
    5. Pull through around 30cm of thread before placing your first shape on to the sewing machine. The pencil line should be face up and the glittered side face down. If you’re feeling particularly confident you could skip the template step and just sew freestyle.
    4. Sew through the paper shapes. You can choose to create a continuous line of shapes or leave a gap in between like I did.
    5. When you’ve finished, leave around 30cm of cotton to ensure you have thread to hang your garland in place.
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    If you don’t have a sewing machine you could create something very similar by gluing or taping twine to punched shapes. The garlands would be great for festive decorations, wrapping around Christmas presents or just draped over doors and walls. Let me know if you decide to make your own!