bunting tutorial: sewn with grace & peace

really we should all be gracious

& caring & joyful & inclusive & forgiving

& sharing & humble & loving

all year round .... not just because it 'tis the season!

i try to be

so here i am on Christmas eve

sharing some hints with you all about

something i love making ...

bunting flags ... mini sized

i have long multi-coloured all different

fabric lengths of it!

they are for parties (or Playful Markets!)

& can be strung up on the 'invisible' hooks we have

strategically positioned about our family room

no crepe paper streamers in our house!

in fact we even have a set of black & white bunting

that has been used on several occasions

(but i am wondering if its jinxing the result??)

there have been many little gifts made & given

just like these ....

now gracing bedroom windows

is my 'thing' for 1st Birthdays

this 'happy' set is the most recent, made to match

& i've sewn a mountain of these for my

hARTylittlepeaces market stalls

& they are also stocked at

Shop Handmade! 

 so somewhere along the line

i may have Googled "bunting tutorial"

i can't remember ...

i usually check out google images

i salute & say 'thankyou' to everyone who shares

share their ideas ...

i've simply looked at what other people do

 & then 'tweaked' it all my way!

problem solving the practical

i'm very into neat finishes .... & i love a double fold binding!

 so

you can make bunting in triangles which appears to be more conventional

or other shapes like semi-circles or deep scallop shapes or squares or the like

you can simply cut the shapes & leave a raw edge or pink if you are using fabric

or you can sew them face to face ....

or not use fabric but paper or card or plastic instead

there are endless options

like there are endless sizes

i came up with my version a long time ago

here's how it goes...

i cut my triangles by way of cutting

wof - width of fabric strips

 i then have a scallop template that makes

slicing the triangles super quick!

yep ... letting out all my secrets here ...

 then .... mostly these triangles are sewn rst - right sides together

in matching fabrics but of course you know

sometimes i mix it up!

turn them out & press

not rocket science but is best to be precise

to be sure you end up with flags the same size!

& before you know it you'll have a nice little stash!!

(well ... its little for me!)

 now for the binding ...

since this binding is not required to perform twists & turns

cutting wof strips is fine .... join

you've worked out how many flags you wish to string

& then work out how far apart you'd like to space them

  make you binding double fold

that means .... press it in half

then open & press the raw edges into the centre press fold

... it will end up 4 layers thick ... make sense?
i use a gadget ... super quick once again

the bunting i make to sell have 12 flags

so here's a combo with 3 fabrics ... all Christmas-y of course!

binding to match

i do suggest that you choose your fabrics carefully

small prints are best, i love a dot as you know

but watch when you're cutting that if you have a one directional design

... well some of it is going to be upside down

now ... my suggestion is that you just don't go there 

as i see it as a bit of a waste of fabric really

ok ...now line up your components 

in fact it really helps to set up the flags in a pile ready to go 

that is ... in order ... 

or you may find you sew in by accident 2 spotty red ones ... oooops!?

save you the un-picking!

here we go

i sew a length of 'ribbon' binding ....

then i start to insert the flags ...

so be sure to have the binding opening facing left

stitch away

you can see my flag spacing here

about the distance from needle to the edge of the bobbin plate

 12 flags later & i add in my hARTylittlepeaces tag

ready for action ... or gifting!

 but perhaps you'd like a no-sew version!??

here are a few hundred i cut recently for

our Playful Market

i bought a couple of Christmas themed

scrap booking paper pads

each square piece i cut in half vertically

then each half was folded across the short side

hole punched twice

then the trick with stringing these bad boys

is

to use a kind of 'hairy' twine or something with some texture

why? so that the paper doesn't slip & slide along

you can see here they are hung parralel all along the width of our hall

what makes this so effective is the 'on-mass' approach

then you need to try to hang it all as taught as possible

so simple & it works & is amazingly effective!

again this idea & process has been

my own problem solving applications

& lots of years of working with large groups of children

& settings where a mass application has been the solution

so just as a final note

just like everyone who shares 

ideas & concepts on their blogs etc

they are intended for you to use for personal reasons

not for reproducing for personal gain

so please on my behalf

& for all those generous souls that enrich our lives

sharing on their blogs & sites all over our globe

please respect these wishes

on a note of wishing ... 'tis the season!

i wish for you and your family

a truly joyous, sparkly, happy, giving time

this Christmas

let us celebrate the birth of Christ our Saviour

pray for peace & grace in our world

 

Happy Christmas!!

& there is still time to whip up some bunting ....