Pinwheel Wreath - A Tutorial

My friend Kaitlin showed me how to make these cute fabric pinwheels yesterday, and I knew I had to make something with them. The wreath that I made earlier this summer was looking pretty bad ... the humidity really did a number on all those bits of fabric!  So I clipped them all off and made this instead.  Here is how you do it.

What You Will Need:

Grapevine wreath
Assorted fabric scraps
Sewing machine, thread, etc.
Heat N Bond Ultrahold
Iron, Ironing Board
Pinking shears
Buttons
Hot Glue Gun


First, take your fabric scraps and cut them into squares. I made 6 total - the largest was about 6 X 6, the medium 5 X 5 and the smallest 4 X 4. I then got out my Heat n Bond and cut a square for each one (6 squares total). With paper side facing you, fuse it to the wrong side of one of your squares. Peel off the paper, revealing the sticky surface it leaves behind. Set your other square of the same size on top with the pretty side facing you and press... the squares will now be adhered to each other. You will want to use 2 different fabrics for each square. I used 3 different fabrics total and just mixed and matched them.

After you have done this for all your squares, go to the sewing machine and sew 1/4 inch all the way around each square. Cut around the edges using your pinking shears. This will stop the edges from fraying and give it a nice, finished look.

At this point, go plug in your hot glue gun so it will be ready for the next step!  Now it's time to cut those squares.  I forgot to take pictures of this step, but if you go here, she shows you exactly how to do it.  You are going to fold your square from one corner to the other forming a triangle. Take a regular pair of scissors and cut from the small end up, almost to the middle. Now fold your square the opposite way and do exactly the same thing.   Your square should now look like this:

Now you want to make the pinwheel shape. Put a small dab of hot glue right in the center and fold the right-hand side triangle in like this:

Here is a great tip  ... use the pointy end of an aluminum knitting needle to press the fabric down into the glue.

Otherwise, you may end up with a finger that looks like this:

Ouch, that really hurt! Okay, back to gluing.  Put another dab of glue down and fold the top triangle down like this:

Put some more hot glue and fold in the left hand side triangle like this:

Finally, add one more dab of hot glue and bring the bottom triangle up like this:

Add one more dab of hot glue in the middle and press your button down into the glue; this will hide all of the tips of the fabric.

I played around with the placement of the pinwheels on the wreath till I found a grouping I liked. I then put a bunch of hot glue on the back of each pinwheel and stuck it to the wreath!

And there you have it.. a cute decoration for your front porch that won't cost a lot of money and only takes a little bit of time!  Wouldn't it be fun to make different pinwheels for the seasons or holidays - you could have a new wreath every few months!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you make one, please send me a photo, I'd love to see it!

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