Hosting a shower can get expensive, so for decor on a budget I stepped out of my comfort zone to use the sewing machine to make my friend something to pizzazz up her party that could be also used in her baby's nursery afterwards. At first I thought I needed to take my machine to an expert to be tweaked before starting a project such as this, but after a quick consultation discovered it was just user error and my old trusty Riccar 3500 was in mint condition. They just don't make new machines to last this long anymore........
There reason I chose to actually the banners, is so the edges would be sharp and never ravel, they are now machine washable (the last thing anyone needs in their house is something else laying around collecting dust and too delicate to wash), and having the weight of the extra fabric just helps the whole banner itself hang more naturally and not be so flimsy.......oh yes, and it looks so much more official and expensive than just cut out out triangles glued to a string.
The following list will make two 3 yard long Pennant Banners.
Supplies:
3 yards of fabric (I used 6 colors, 0.5 yards of each)
2 packages of 3 yard long 7/8" wide double folded quilt binding bias tape
Matching thread
Sewing machine
Fabric pins
Measuring tape or ruler
Scissors
Something to use a template to cut fabric (I used a recycled magazine cover)
Start by measuring out 10 inches by 10 inches on whatever medium you chose to be your template (in my case a magazine cover), and cut it out. Then use your template to cut 24 squares of fabric (each one 10X10", duh). The magazine cover works great because it's easy to just pin it onto the fabric, cut around it, then remove the pins and move on.
Fold each square in half, corner to corner, to make a triangle.
Pin closed only one edge of each triangle.
Sew each pinned edge closed, from tip to top.
Turn the triangle inside out (a pencil works fabulous for getting the tip all the way out), position the seem in the center of the triangle, fold down the left-over material at the top, turn over. Now you have a pennant.
Iron every single pennant to get sharp edges and keep the top flap from interfering with the next step.
Starting a few inches from the end of the bias tape, pin the pennants in the fold of the bias tape, positioning them where each top corner of every pennant touches it's neighboring pennant.
12 pennants should fit on a 3 yard strip of bias tape, leaving a few inches free on each end to use later for hanging the banner.
Sew along the edge of the bias tap, securing the pennants in place.
When all that is complete, you can cut off the little flap left over on the back.....or you could just leave it there.
Done, done, and done! These banners are ready for some action!
......Maybe one day, when Ale finally uploads her pictures from the shower, I can finally show exactly what kind of action I'm talking about!!
**Edited to add more banner's I've made for shower's**
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