Red, White and Blue Deco Mesh Wreath Tutorial Part 2

When starting the second layer of ruffles, just choose a twist and un-do it, making sure the first ruffle stays in place, it will.
Lay your next ruffle right down on top of the first, choosing a contrasting color and re-secure the twist with a couple of turns…..not by the balls remember)))
Because of the number of twists, working around the wreath in a red, white, blue pattern didn’t necessarily come out evenly…..at some point we had to chose a different color.

This is our wreath with three layers of ruffles on the outer and inner rings. Nice)))
You may be wondering why we went around the wreath three times when we could have just held three ruffles in the hand and secured in the twist one time and been done with it. And you could do that, but it takes extra hands!
Also when we finished the first layer…..it looked like the silver balls on the ends of the twists were going to stick out of the wreath too far…..but after the third layer was added, they seem just right.

There are so many options to use once you’ve completed the base wreath. The base wreath looks great without anything else actually…..or you could add some sprays…..a sign…..glittered words…a bow with some tails.
We chose to add some Royal Blue and Red Polka Dot (This ribbon is sold out, but you can use other styles of patriotic ribbon.) wire edge ribbon. This ribbon is a very nice royal blue polished cotton fabric with red glittered polka dots on one side and red metallic on the bottom. It’s 2.5″ and 10 yards in length. You’ll find this ribbon in our Polka Dot section. Your choice of ribbon or ribbons can absolutely make the wreath. Sometimes it far better to use a more modest style of mesh or other material and use more expensive ribbons for a finishing touch.

We measured the depth of the wreath to determine how long we needed to cut our ribbon strips. If the depth of the wreath measure 7-8″ you need ribbon strips at least 14″ since they will be pinched in the middle and attached to the strips. You want the tips of the ribbons to stick out beyond the mesh a bit so they will be more visible.
It’s always best to try the length of ribbon you think you’ll need before cutting it.

One the ribbon strips were cut, we folded the ribbon in half and made a cut across the folded side of the ribbon.

 Pinch the ribbon in the center.

 Continue adding ribbon. For this wreath, we added ribbon to each twist, but you don’t necessarily have to. We also considered using two types of ribbon but elected to just use this one because it showed up so well.

 Once you’re wreath is finished, hang it up and take a look. Fluff out the tips of the ribbon strips, cut any loose strings. Actually to have 54 pieces of mesh cut, we had practically no strings to cut which is pretty amazing. The more you handle Deco Poly Mesh, it will ravel, but this project went great with next to no raveling.
I love it…..love this style. The base wreath came out very regular without gaps or holes. No wire frame showed at all and the Pencil Wreath with Balls added a little more sparkle which will be great for Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. Hmmmmm…..and we can lose the star and add something that screams Hotty Toddy for our Rebel fans )))
Remember……no twisting by the balls……lol (sorry….it’s the end of the day…..I’m tired…..and ready to call this one done! )

Until we meet again,

Claudia

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