Hexagon Garland Tutorial

I had a small stack of Sew Stitchy hexagons left over from my Zakka Linen Bag which I'd been wanting to use in another small project, but I hadn't been able to settle on what to make. Today I finally decided to turn them into a little garland to hang in my sewing room. In case some of you would like to do the same with some of your leftover hexies, here's a short tutorial for you...

Supplies: basted hexagons (paper included), twill tape or ribbon, fabric glue stick, thread

Step 1: Line your hexagons up in pairs -- these will be the front and back of each hexagon stop on your garland. I tried to match the same colors (or at least get as close as I could) in each pair while checking to be sure that there was a good variety in color and pattern along the line on each side.

Step 2: Stretch out your twill tape on your work table, and space out your pairs along the line to your liking. Leaving the paper in the hexie gives it a nice stiffness, and leaving the basting threads in (for now) keeps it from falling apart while you put your garland together. Place some glue on the inside paper of one half of a hexagon pair. Then place it underneath the twill tape in it's new spot, pressing down on the tape to make it stick. Next, place more glue on the twill tape on top of that hexie and then sandwich the other half of the pair on top, pressing down again on top of both. Repeat until all your hexagon pairs are glued to the twill tape.

Step 3: Sew just along the edge (about an 1/8th of an inch) inside the border of each hexie pair to secure them permanently to the twill tape. Once all of them are stitched, go back and pull out the basting thread, snipping off any stuck ends as necessary.

Step 4: Create loops at each end of the twill tape for hanging. I made mine rather small, but if I were to do this again, I would probably make them larger. Just fold the end of the tape over about a half inch, then fold again about two inches or more to make a larger loop. Stitch over the small folded portion at the bottom of the loop two or three times to secure it.

Step 5: Find a fun spot to hang your garland! This version works well either draped over something or hanging down in a straight line. Either way, it's a fun way to decorate with some leftover hexagons.

Linking up to the Festival of Hexagons.