DIY Wrapped Fabric Wreath for Winter

Learn how to make a wrapped fabric wreath for winter using a charm pack! Complete the wreath with a beautiful cardinal appliqué pennant for a striking winter wreath.

Hello Crafty Friends and Happy Winter! With our Christmas decorations down, it was time to add a new wreath for the winter season. I created this wreath using a foam wreath form and a bit of felt and fabric! My favorite part of the wreath is the bright red cardinal. I love seeing cardinals in the winter, especially when there is snow on the ground.

Last spring I created my first wrapped fabric wreath featuring a sweet bird sitting on top a nest of fabric flowers. I loved the wreath so much I knew I wanted to make more similar wreaths for the other seasons of the year. I finally made my winter version. I chose to wrap the wreath in blue, white and silver fabric so the red cardinal and evergreen branches would really stand out.

The cardinal is made from felt and fabric, then hand embroidered with black embroidery floss. My new cardinal pattern includes a detailed picture tutorial and the cardinal in three sizes.

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Fabric Winter Wreath with Cardinal Appliqué

Choosing the Fabric

The foam wreath form is covered by wrapping the wreath with overlapping strips of fabric. I chose to use a charm pack by Robert Kaufman called Holiday Flourish (Blue Colorstory). You can wrap this wreath with fabric scraps as well. What I love about using a charm pack, is all of the fabrics coordinate together so wonderfully.

Charm packs come with 5″ square pieces of fabric from the same fabric collection. A full collection often includes the same prints in multiple colors. In this Holiday Flourish charm pack, for example, many of the prints are repeated in white, silver, light blue and dark blue.

I’ve used charm packs to create other projects too! My Charm Pack Pillow Wreath, Mini Charm Pack Pillow Wreath, and Holiday Ornaments are all made with charm packs.

Supplies Needed:

13.8″ Styrofoam Wreath
Fabric – I used a 5″ Charm pack Holiday Flourish Blue Colorstory by Robert Kaufman. Also available at Fat Quarter Shop.
Hot Glue
Pinking Shears – I used my Ginghers Pinking Shears
Blue Ribbon for hanging
Greenery – pine branches, mini pinecones, berries
Cardinal Appliqué Pattern – I used the size large 6.5″ cardinal pattern

Step by Step Tutorial:

Step One:Wrap the Wreath in strips of fabric. Start by cutting strips of fabric with the pinking shears that are each about 1 5/8″ wide. I used a charm pack so I cut each 5″ square into thirds.

Wrap the fabric around the wreath form, one strip at a time, securing with hot glue. My strips of fabric were not long enough to cover the entire wreath form but I made sure to keep the gap on the back of the wreath where it wouldn’t be visible.

I found it easiest to glue one end of the fabric strip down, let it cool and then pull the fabric gently around the form before securing the other end. This way the fabric is kept stretched around the wreath form and not loose.

Continue adding strips of fabric until the entire wreath is covered. Try to place the strips so the fabrics with the same color or print are not right next to each other. Since I cut each square of fabric into thirds, I had three strips of the same fabric. I spaced them out around the wreath so they weren’t all right next to each other.

Below you can see my wreath completely covered along with a view of the back. If are using fabric scraps you can cut your pieces long enough to avoid this. If you use a charm pack like I did, you can cover the areas where the styrofoam wreath is visible on the back with smaller pieces of leftover fabric. I left mine as is, since I made this wreath for myself and it would be against a door.

Step Three: Add the greenery. I originally planned to just add thin sticks, you can see them pictured in my supplies picture. But they didn’t show up very well on the wreath. Instead, I raided my fake flower bins and found enough pine branches to use along with tiny pinecones and fake red berries.

Test out a few layouts before gluing the greenery down. Once you like your arrangment, snap a picture so you can recreate it more easily as you glue everything down.

Step Four: Add the Cardinal Appliqué. The star of the winter wreath is definitely the bright red cardinal. I created it using felt and fabric. The pattern and detailed instructions for making the cardinal are available in my Etsy Shop. The cardinal pattern comes in three different sizes. For this wreath I made the largest size, 6.5″.

Step Five: Finally, add a hanging loop and the wreath is complete!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial for a striking winter wreath! You can find the cardinal appliqué pattern in my shop. Thank you for supporting my small business!