Make a Fabric Chain Garland to Enjoy for Years
Velcro Allows No-Crush Storage!
Do you have happy memories of making paper chains, perhaps as a child or with your kids or grandkids? While they are easy to make and fun to hang on the tree and elsewhere around the house, they do crush easily and often last just one season.
However, fabric chains can stay in good condition and be displayed for many years to come. The secret is velcro. The chains can be taken apart and the links stored flat. Nice!
We found three tutorials for making fabric chains. The first, by Jennie Jones for Gathered, involves sewing fabric tubes that have strips of cardstock or flexible OHP paper inserted for stiffness. Non-adhesive velcro is sewn onto the ends of each link.
The second tutorial, from Crafty Staci, uses Craft Fuse for stiffness. It’s cut into strips, inserted into tubes with velcro sewn on the ends, and then fused with an iron.
A third way to make fabric chains can be done without sewing. Fuse two pieces of fabric together (right sides out) with a fusible web in between (like Steam a Seam 2). Cut the fabric into strips of the width and length you want, allowing room to overlap the ends. Simply glue the ends together with fabric glue or use iron-on fusible velcro.
These chains will not be as sturdy as the two versions above, but the velcro version should still last for several seasons. For a sturdier version, with links that will hold their shapes better (perhaps best when using velcro), consider using a double-sided fusible interfacing, such as Fast2Fuse, instead of fusible web.
A tutorial from Spoonflower will get you started.
