Felt Pie Garland

This felt garland mantel decoration is a fun and easy way to use up felt scraps for Thanksgiving or Pi Day. Beads, wool, or trim can add creative dimension to your project. Read on to see how I made my garland with blueberry, cherry, and pumpkin pie slices.

• At least 2 sheets of brown felt, plus various colors for your chosen flavors
• Matching brown embroidery thread
• Ribbon or cord for hanging
• Optional: White wool and a felting needle for whipped cream

Cut felt isosceles triangles in each of your filling colors (mine were approximately 4" wide x 6" tall). If you'd like your garland to be extra sturdy, you can also cut a backing triangle out of your brown crust colored felt. If you choose to use a backing triangle, you can sew or glue them together at this point.

Next, cut an entire sheet of your brown felt lengthwise into 1" strips. Place those strips over your colored triangles on a diagonal and cut again, leaving about 1" of extra per strip. Cut four strips of brown per pie slice.

Pin your brown felt strips diagonally over each slice, weaving them over and under one another to create a lattice pattern. Sew the strips down using brown thread.

Once all strips have been sewn down, use sharp fabric scissors to trim off any excess crust.

Add the ribbon, cord, or twine you'll use to connect each slice and hang. I chose a thin but sturdy metallic ribbon. Measure and pin your pie slices so that they are evenly spaced along the ribbon, then sew a continuous straight stitch. I spaced mine about 1 foot apart, but you can space them as densely as you'd like as long as your ribbon can hold the weight.

Don't forget to leave room on each end of the ribbon to tie or loop around your mantel (or wherever you intend to hang the garland).

Using one of your remaining brown 1" strips, cut the strip to a length of 8" (or two times the width of your pie slice).

Thread an embroidery needle with a full (6 strand) length of brown embroidery thread. Knot and pull through the bottom left corner of the felt strip. Make long straight stitches until you reach the end of the strip. Do not knot off yet; cut a 3" tail and drop the thread.

Repeat on the bottom right corner. You now have two parallel lines of stitching. Pull the two loose thread ends to gather the fabric to 4" (or the width of your pie slice). Adjust the gathers to sit as evenly as possible, then knot off each thread.

Repeat to make one ruffle per slice.

Using a straight stitch and brown thread, machine stitch the center of the crust ruffle to the top of the pie slice, concealing the ribbon.

If you'd like to add "whipped cream" to any slice, take a small handful of white felting wool and loosely stab into each felt slice with a felting needle, using a foam block to protect your work surface. The more you poke the wool, the more it will condense and stick to the felt.

If you'd like, hem or seal the ends of your ribbon garland, or cap off with beads. Hang and enjoy your new pie garland!