While I decided not to go all out with decorating for St. Patrick’s Day this year, I did decide to make a simple farmhouse vignette. I could not NOT decorate at all! 😉 I wanted to make a fun DIY project to go along with the vignette so I made this farmhouse shamrock garland. Granted it is not the simplest DIY garland out there but it is super cute and worth the effort. I really like how it turned out, I think it has the perfect farmhouse charm!

It helped that I already had the ideal fabric to use for the shamrocks! I had come across what looked like green ticking fabric at a thrift store one time and bought it intending to make a pillow cover out of it. Well, when I got home and unrolled the fabric, it turns out it was a shirt all cut up into pieces! The pillow cover idea went out the window but I kept it around knowing I would find a use for it someday. Well that day had finally come. 🙂

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For this project you will need:

• Shamrock template
• Cardstock
• Green striped/ticking fabric (similar fabric here and here)
• Rice
• Funnel
• Sewing machine (this is a newer version of the one I use)
• Thread/Needle
• Scissors
• Twine

You do have to have a little bit of sewing skills to make this garland but not much. If you can follow a line then you can make this! I found a shamrock clip art online, sized it to about 4.75 inches wide and printed it out on card stock.  This would become my template to trace onto the fabric.

To make the job easier and faster, double over a piece of your fabric making sure that the ticking lines match up as best as possible. Trace the shamrock template onto the fabric several times leaving a little space in between each shamrock.  I made 12 shamrocks but ended up only using 11 on the garland.

Pin the two layers together in each shamrock. Cut around the individual shamrocks, not directly on the line though.

Next, take the shamrocks over to your sewing machine. You will be sewing the two layers together but leaving an opening to fill the shamrocks with rice to make them “puffy”. You can see the puffiness of the shamrocks in this picture of the finished garland.

I did not sew directly on the line but just to the left of it about 1/8″. My presser foot attachment has an opening in it that I just followed the line with. I believe it is the “F” satin stitch attachment, this one pretty much stays on my sewing machine all of the time unless I need a specific attachment for a project.

Make sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of your sewing.  You can see where I started and stopped in the picture below.  I wanted to leave enough room for the funnel to fit into the shamrock to fill it.

Initially, I was not sure what to fill the shamrocks with. I did not have any poly fill stuffing at home and didn’t want to buy some for this small project so I put on my thinking cap to try to find something we had around the house.  The first one I tried filling with Kleenex to see how it would work. That did not work out too well, it was too lumpy and did not have any give. I decided to use rice next because I knew it was small enough to fill in all the spaces but would still be pliable.  It worked perfectly!

When adding the rice, I used a bamboo skewer to help move the rice around so I could fit more in.  I also had to move the rice around by squishing it to make sure all the spaces were filled.  I left some room at the opening so I would be able to sew the shamrock closed. My finger worked as a good spacer. 😉

Sew the shamrock closed. I did not get any pictures of this process as it was a little tricky. You have to make sure the rice is out of the way so the shamrock will fit under your presser foot. I found it easier to sew it closed in the opposite direction than I originally sewed. It does not have to be perfect, just closed enough that the rice will not spill out.  You could also hand sew it shut as another option. I absolutely hate hand sewing things so I try to avoid it at all costs! 🙂

After it is closed, remove the excess fabric  by cutting along the black line. The edges will eventually fray but that is fine, it will add to the farmhouse look. I found it easier to make short cuts into the corners rather than cutting around the shamrock in one long cut.

To string the shamrocks on the twine, I used a needle and thread and just tied simple knots.  I guess I did have to hand sew something! 😉 I used black thread on the first one so you could see how I attached it.

You should use a thread that blends in like I used on the rest of them.

I spaced out the shamrocks just by eyeing what I thought looked like good spacing. You can space them how you like. Cut the twine off after you have all of the shamrocks attached.

I strung it on an old window but it would look great on a mantel too!  Or anything for that matter!

I will be back soon to share the whole St. Patrick’s Day vignette with you!

Have a wonderful day!