How to Make Bunting!

Good morning lovey readers! I have just noticed my reader count has crept up so big thanks for following me! It's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself. I hope I am posting interesting things and have the right mix of photos/ramblings, once again I apologise for spelling and grammar - It'll never be my strongest suit!

Anyway onwards and upwards! Today I'm going to talk about one of my new found hobbies. (not really fashion today) I had a question from Monkey over at A Monkey Fatshonista asking about where I got my bunting from. The answer was I made it, so last week I put together a little photo tutorial to show you how.

You will need: some pretty fabric of your choice, a ruler, some scissors, a pencil, some card, bias binding, thread, an iron and a sewing machine. (and optional ribbon for hanging - not picture here)

Here's the label of the bias binding this one is 20mm wide x 3.5m. It comes in loads of colours I just happen to have a blue pack hanging around!

First of all make a template measuring 16cm along the base and 20cm high. To get an even triangle measure 8cm along the base and draw a perpendicular line measuring 20cm, then join up the base to the points.

Here are my bunting measurements

Next take the bias binding...

...fold in half and iron, be patient the more time you spend here the easier sewing will be.

Next iron the fabric, a non fraying fabric is the best otherwise the triangles will fray and look a bit rubbish

Next mark around the template with pencil on the reverse of the fabric, the triangles will fit together perfectly and you will be able to get more triangles out of your fabric.

Carefully cut out the triangles. (a good pair of dressmaking scissors is the way to go)

If you are using repeating coloured triangles take the time to put them in order before you sew them. This will make it so much easier and prevent that awful feeling where you get to the end to find you have two red ones together in the middle of the string!

Just a note here if you use the measurements here and have 3.5m of bias binding you will be able to fit 16 triangles on the tape, that means that if you have 8 different colours of fabric you will get two repeating sets. If your bias binding is any longer you will need more triangles!

Next pop a triangle in the fold of the bias binding about 5cm from the end and sew (I am lucky enough to have a sewing machine with fancy stitches, so I am using a triangle stitch) be careful that the bunting triangles don't slip out of the binding as you are sewing (more about that in a bit!)

Measure 6cm from the end of the triangle and mark with pencil, sew up to the mark, pop in another triangle and then keep sewing.

My chosen stitch. I'm using pink thread as It's what I have hanging around, if you use the same colour thread as binding then 'oopses' will be better hidden!

If disaster (OK well its not quite the day after tomorrow but still pretty annoying) happens and a triangle slips out you can do a quick repair by..

...snipping a slit...

...and sewing the bunting along the back of the tape..

...not quite perfect but no-one will spot it from a distance!

Next take 40cm pieces of ribbon and fold in the middle, then place anywhere you desire a hanging tag and sew a straight stitch along the top edge to keep in place.

Give the bunting a final iron and trim off any loose threads. Then simply tie on to whatever you want to decorate, hopefully you will have something more exciting than my washing line!

 

That brings me to the end of my bunting tutorial! Hope you enjoyed it, Happy sewing! Any questions just ask below.