DIY Vintage Fabric Kites

to Read (

Words)

So I know I am going at a snails pace with Little Love's Nursery Design but I just haven't put enough effort to get it completed since she is still in the room with us. I know I do need to get the ball rolling though, the last you guys all saw I finally cleaned up the room and had the crib and bedding perfectly styled. Since then, we found a beautiful vintage dresser that needs a makeover, added a large (unusual) "art" to the wall and I finally hung the kites I made months and months ago. I'll eventually get to sharing the other stuff but today I wanted to share a tutorial on how I made these kites for her room.
If you remember from our design plans I shared this photo:

via

I knew instantly, I wanted to create something similar because I had a ton, A TON, of vintage cloths handed down to me from my grandma, Babcia. However, I had a hard time finding a good tutorial so I kinda followed this one and kinda winged the rest myself and figured I would share how I did so there can be one more tutorial on Pinterest so if you wouldn't mind pinning and sharing this tutorial; I would love you forever.

The materials I used for this project was very simple: cloth/fabric, wooden dowels (these will be the kites base), string (to hold base together and create a kite tail), hot glue sticks and a hot glue gun (you could also sew the kite together instead but I am not that brave yet, maybe one day).

I began by cutting the dowels to the size I wanted using a knife (it took FOREVER so maybe try using a saw) and sanded the edges smooth. I than laid the smaller dowel on top of the longer dowel and wrapped the string in an X pattern to tie the dowels together. I left some length on the string (about double the length of the longer dowel) to later use as the tail.

I laid my base on the fabric (facing down) and lined it up how I wanted to ensure the embroidery at the bottom would show and not get covered once I started folding.

And came the folding, nothing fancy or tricks to it, I just folded it and placed a line of hot glue where the fabric met the dowels. Although I would recommend ironing the folded edges before gluing (and possibly after) to give the fabric a little extra hold so it can truly replicate that diamond shape.

Lastly, I cut out small rectangular pieces from some vintage fabric I had and simply tied once around the string to create the bows on the tail. There was really no rhyme or reason here either; once all pieces were tied on I just slide them apart or closer together until I decided I liked what I saw.

I just love how they seem to be floating on the wall. Now these kites have been completed for almost 3 months, yeah before Little Love was born but what took so long putting them up was I couldn't decide how to safely adhere them to the wall. I reached out to the person from my inspiration photo on how they hung theirs but I have yet to hear back and I also asked for suggestions on Instagram about possibly using command strips and in the end I decided to hang them with thumb tacks FOR NOW just to get them on the wall. Sophia sleeps in our room anyways for the mean time until I can figure out what I want to do to make it as safe as possible so I am open to suggestions people!!

I can't be the only one excited that this didn't require sewing but for you seamstresses out there, for a beginner (like never sewed before except that one time I sewed the ends of my scarf together to create an infinity scarf), how hard would it actually be to sew this instead of using hot glue? And any suggestions on how to keep these things on the wall?

And don't forget to share and/or pin this post if you or anyone you know is looking for a good DIY project.