DIY Suncatchers from Vintage Scarves

Back when I made my Aromatherapy Eye Pillows from vintage scarves, I had mentioned that my good friend, Kate DiNatale Vintage, had given me a bag of vintage scarves that she couldn’t sell. As I pawed through them, I noticed that some of them reminded me of faux stained glass. So, I decided to upcycle them into DIY suncatchers for windows that I hoped would stop birds from flying into our windows.

You see, we have a big bay window in our kitchen that lets in the most amazing light. But it also attracts and confuses my beloved songbirds. So something needed to be done.

Anyway, I dug through the bag of scarves looking for the ones that looked best when held up to the light. I set aside the gossamer scarves for a different project, while I gathered some of the brighter, more opaque scarves for this one.

I have a penchant for upcycling vintage scarves that are damaged. Remember this necklace that I made from a damaged scarf?

Anyway, once I had the scarves that looked like faux stained glass gathered up, I was ready to put my upcycling idea for DIY suncatchers in action.

And more or less, this fabric craft would only require a couple of things: Vintage scarves and small embroidery hoops.

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Crafting with Old Scarves to Make DIY Suncatchers

I decided to focus on just one scarf from the bunch. Its colors and designs were just divine when held up to the sun!

I set my small embroidery hoops (3″-5″ in size) on the chiffon scarf here and there. I tried to isolate an interesting design in the scarf fabric that would work the best for my craft idea.

Next, I ran a quick iron over the scarf fabric to ease out any creases.

Then, I set the inner ring under the sections I wanted to isolate and pushed the outer ring over it.

After tightening it a bit, I tugged the scarf all around the hoop to make sure my design was centered and the fabric taut. Then, I simply trimmed off the excess as closely to the hoop as I could.

Once I finished creating my DIY suncatchers, I dabbed a bit of Fray-Stop all along the raw edge to ensure it didn’t fray out of control AND stay in place- like an insurance policy.

Now they were ready to hang and serve the same purpose as bird window decals or bird window stickers: to prevent birds from hitting our windows.

Now all that was left to do was to hang them in the window!

DIY Suncatchers from Vintage Scarves

To hang them, I simply used white thread (though fishing line would also be perfect) and suction cups with hooks.

When all was said and done, I was mighty happy with my collection of window suncatchers!

Don’t they look fantastic (if I do say so myself)? I just LOVE the bright, whimsical colors and funky vintage design of the scarf fabric.

Plus, I don’t have to worry about them shattering all over the floor if the suction cup fails. Let’s not forget that a VERY curious cat lives in my house!

Here’s hoping they serve the same purpose as bird window decals and prevent birds from hitting our windows.

While my DIY suncatchers DO look pretty hanging there, that is the ultimate goal, after all.

Speaking of birds, if you enjoyed this upcycling idea, then you might also be interested in my this hanging bird bath that I made from a casserole dish lid!

AND I’m so excited to announce that my first book is now available! If you love working with flannel or fabric crafts in general (sewing and non-sewing), then you will LOVE “Crafting with Flannel”!

Craft on!

S

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