How To: Dot Garland

I'm going to show you how I made the particular dot garland that is pictured, but this can really be anything you want it to be- any colors, any shape (think butterflies for Spring or hearts for Valentines). I used a Fiskars Round Squeeze Punch, which I think is a great thing to have in your crafting arsenal for a variety of projects. It took me 20 minutes to punch out all the dots and then one hour to sew the dots together. My sewing skills start and stop with threading the bobbin, machine, and sewing straight lines. If you're like me; you can do this easily. And if you're more of an expert, you'll be able to do this with your eyes closed and in half the time! To make the dot garland you'll need 9 sheets total of card stock (I used the large square sheets) in 3 different colors, so I did 3 dark pink, 3 light pink, and 3 medium pink with a metallic finish (radical). This will make plenty of garland to drape around and have fun with. If you want a smaller garland I would do 6 sheets (three different colors, 2 of each). Also, I'd like to point out that I chose one pink that clashed with the other pinks because I thought it would make things more visually interesting. I highly recommend doing this, but no pressure. Just have fun and do whatever you're feeling. Here we go!

Dots ready to be sewed.

Ya, you saw this right- I'm shuffling the dots. I didn't want to have a rhyme or reason to the way I sewed the dots together. Nothing seamed more boring then to have one light pink, then one dark pink, then one metallic clashing pink and then start it all over again. Predictable and most definitely BORING. So I shuffled them (I love shuffling cards, p.s.). You won't be able to shuffle all the dots in one go, so work in batches. If you're not a proficient shuffler, just spread them on a table and shake them up like you did when you were a kid.

After shuffling, stack them up. Now you are ready to sew!

The color of thread I used to sew the dots together is....wait for it, PINK.

Sewing the dots together is simple. All you do is center the dot and guide it through as you sew continuously one dot after the other until you're all out of dots! Once you've done ten or so, you'll be able to really get on a roll.

To keep the sewn dots from getting tangled, take a pause from sewing and straighten the sewn dots out on your floor. Do this periodically throughout sewing.

To hang the dots, I used the same removable tape I used to hang the yarn balls. Great stuff.

I swooped the dot garland around the room where the party was happening. You can see from the picture where I taped it. The dot garland will naturally twist, which looks all the more rad. Have fun and if you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll respond. Hope you're all having a fabulous Monday!