EEK! DIY Halloween Garland Free Sewing Pattern

This Halloween garland is so cute it’ll have you screaming “EEK!” The burlap and the crochet trim give it a vintage feel, while the word “EEK!” brings the Halloween spirit. And those spiders – they’re bright and fun and bring the whimsy.

The design is inspired by a plastic spider that’s been hanging out on top of a hutch in my dining room for the past year. My daughter put it there in hopes of freaking me out. And it does. Even though it’s been there a year, I see it out of the corner of my eye and get a little scare before remembering it’s just a plastic spider.

So when I decided to make a garland that spelled “EEK!” in bunting banner flags, I knew it would need some spiders!

When I started making the garland, I challenged myself to use materials I already have on hand. As much as I like having an excuse to run out and buy piles of fabric, it stretches my creativity to work with what I have already.

That’s how I ended up using the crochet trim across the top. I wouldn’t have normally thought to use it that way, but when I was digging through my ribbons it just called to me.

The one thing I DIDN’T have was the plastic spiders. None of those in my stash!

But luckily those plastic spider rings are super cheap at Halloween. One $2 bag from Target gave me more than what I needed for this project!

The bunting banner flags are made up of two layers – a bottom background layer from burlap, and an accent layer from quilting cotton with applique letters. The spiders are the perfect finishing touch. I know it’s weird, but I think the mint green spiders are my favorite!

The sewing on this garland is actually pretty easy. It’s all just simple straight lines, even on the applique letters. You could easily sew this up in an evening!

How to make the EEK! DIY Halloween Garland:

Supplies

Flag background – ¼” yard burlap

Flag accent layer – Fat quarter quilting cotton

Applique letters – Large scrap of quilting cotton

Fusible webbing

¾” wide crochet trim – 1.5 yards

Plastic spider rings

Hot glue

Free pattern

Prep the pieces

Trace the Letters on to the back of the fusible webbing. (The pattern is already reversed for you.) Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse to the fabric you’re using for applique, then cut the letters out.

Create the Background Flags

Take 2 of the Background Flag pieces(burlap) and place them wrong sides together. Sew around all sides with ¼” seam allowance.

Repeat for the other Background Flag pieces to create a total of 4 double layer Background Flags.

Create the Accent Flags

Take 2 of the Accent Flag pieces (quilting cotton) and place them wrong sides together. Sew around all 4 sides with ¼” seam allowance.

Trim seam allowances with pinking shears to keep edges from fraying. (If you don’t have pinking shears you can leave the edges unpinked).

Repeat for the other Accent Flag pieces to create a total of 4 double layer Accent Flags.

Peel the paper backing from the applique Letters. Place one of the Letters on each Accent Flag to spell “EEK!”. Center each letter horizontally, with bottom of the letter roughly 1” from the bottom of the Accent Flag.

(The Letters will be vertically slightly lower than center in this step but they’ll look centered when the garland is finished.)

Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse the Letters down to the Accent Flags. To secure the letters, top stitch around all sides of each letter close to the edge.

Place each Accent Flag on top of a Background Flag, centered horizontally and raw edges aligned at the top. Baste across the top with ¼” seam allowance.

Assemble the garland

Pin or clip the crochet trim across the top of the flags, leaving a 1” gap between the flags. To get the flags centered, first fold the crochet trim in half to find the middle and then work outward from there.

Stitch the trim in place across the each flag. I used 2 lines of stitching – one that was close to the top edge of the crochet trim, and then another that was ¼” further down from there so that it would be good and secure.

The last step is to embellish your garland with plastic spiders. Cut the ring backs off of the spider rings, and then use hot glue to glue them down to the flags of your banner.

Your EEK! Halloween garland is done!