Hang out the flags - Bunting Tutorial

With a summer of celebrations ahead, we though it would be a nice time to do a Bunting 'Make it' project.

This project is for a 7 flag bunting with machine appliqued stars

So here we go, this project will take aprox a couple of hours to make. Hopefully the instructions are nice and clear, but please do get in touch if you would like any clarification.

For this project you will need:

3 x 'small' size pieces of fabric

1.5 metres of bias binding

7 buttons

3 x 5 1/2" squares of felt

Firstly, you will need to print this pattern. To do so, highlight the picture above, then 'Right' click on your mouse, then select 'open in a new window' and then print using the keys 'CTRL' and 'P' 

Fold each of your fabrics in half, right sides facing inwards and using the bunting pattern piece (We made our pattern out of card and then drew around it it pencil), cut as follows:

 Fabric 1 (red polka dot) cut out 3 flags (effectively 6 triangles)

Fabric 2 (navy polka dot) cut out 2 flags (4 triangles)

 Fabric 3 (blue and white stripe) cut out 2 flags (4 triangles)

And using the star pattern piece cut:

Felt 1 (navy) cut out 3 stars

 Felt 2 (red) cut out 2 stars

Felt 3 (pale blue) cut out 2 stars

Pin the stars to a triangle (you can see from the pictures the combinations that we went for)

 Using you sewing machine or if you prefer by hand, applique the star to the flag

 Repeat for all 7 flags

Sew buttons to the centres

Match up your fronts to back and place together, right sides facing.  Pin and sew with 1/4" seam allowances

Trim the point as shown

Turn through, press and trim across the top raw edge of the flag, so that you have a nice and neat straight edge

Measure and mark 20cm from the end of your bias binding, this is the start position of your first flag.  Sew the flags in place as shown in the picture above.  The bunting is made with No Gaps in between the flags.

 Finally, trim the end of your bias binding so that each tie, is the same measurement and your flags are nicely centred.  Fold over your ends and hand sew in place to create a loop for hanging

Ta Da.....

That's it you're done, so stand back, admire and enjoy!

   

To accompany this project, we have put together a 'Make it' Appliqued Bunting project pack

which is available 

HERE

Alternatively you can pick your own selection of pretty fabrics and trims from those available in the

Shop

Remember to hang on to all your left over fabrics to use in future makes.

Finally, we hope that you enjoyed our project. We would love to see what you sew and create, so please do send us your pictures and we'll add them to our equally new and glossy customer gallery on our Facebook page.

Happy sewing

Woo hoo...here we go - Pocket Heart Tutorial

After quite a few frantic yet exciting weeks and 11 days since we arrived here, we are delighted to announce that our website is now ...........

Woo hoo !!!!!!

To celebrate, we are also super excited to be sharing our very first 'Make it' project with you.  It is a very pretty Heart, with the added bonus of a Pocket decorated with velvet ribbon and lace.

  Here are some ideas that we came up with for using your heart.... firstly if you have young children, then it would be a great for the tooth fairy.  Or as a present for someone special, why not tuck in a gift card or some cash.  Finally as we have shown it here, it makes a rather gorgeous and useful pin cushion (we're currently fighting over who gets to keep this one!)

So here we go, this project is suitable for all abilities and will take around an hour to make.  Hopefully the instructions are nice and clear, but please do get in touch if you would like any clarification.

For one heart, you will need.....

1 'Small' size piece of fabric (fabric a), 1 'Mini' size piece of fabric (fabric b), 20cm of crochet lace, 30cm velvet ribbon, one button and some polyfil stuffing

Step 1

Firstly, you will need to print this pattern.  To do so, highlight the picture above, then 'Right' click on your mouse, then select 'open in a new window' and then print using the keys 'CTRL' and  'P'  Cut out the Heart Pattern Piece and for the Pocket, simply fold on the dotted line, where indicated.

Using the pattern pieces above, Cut out 2 hearts from your chosen fabric a and 1 pocket from fabric b

Step 2

Take the pocket piece and place right side down.
 Along the top straight edge fold over and press 1cm.

Step 3

Fold over and press a further 1cm, so that the raw edge is now concealed.

Step 4

Pin the lace trim to the right side of the pocket along the top edge and sew using the edgae of your sewing machine foot as a guide. 

(This stitching will be hidden once the velvet ribbon has been attached)

Step 5

Pin 20cm of velvet ribbon to the pocket and then, as close as you can, sew along the top and bottom edges to secure it in place. 

Step 6

To make the bow,  with the remaining 10cm piece of velvet ribbon, place it right side down, next to a ruler.  Fold towards the centre at 27mm and 73mm.  The wrong side of the ribbon is now sandwiched in the middle.

Step 7

Secure in place with some teeny hand stitches

Step 8

Hand sew the bow to the centre of the pocket and then top with a button.

Step 9

Lay one of your heart pieced right side up and pin the pocket also right side up in position.  This will be the front of your completed heart.

Step 10

Place the second heart piece on top of the front piece with right sides together, pin in place.

Step 11

Leaving a gap of aprox 5cm, sew around the outside edge with a 1 cm seam allowance.

Step 12

Trim the point, excess ribbon and cut notches around the curved edge of the heart, as shown above.  This will ensure that you get nice smooth curves when you turn through.

Step 13

Turn though and press, stuff with polyfil and finally hand sew the gap.

Ta da.......

That's it you're done, so stand back, admire and enjoy!

Here's another one we made, this time we used pretty Tilda fabrics, with the addition of a hanging loop

To make life nice and easy, we have put together two 'Make it' packs for you here, plus you'll have a little fabric and trims left over for future projects. sorry these are now sold out

(Never throw any scraps away as we have projects planned for those too!)

 Each pack contains: 1 small piece and 1 mini piece of fabric, 1m of velvet ribbon, 1m of lace and 1m of a co-ordinating ribbon, a selection of 5 buttons for you to choose from and enough stuffing for one plump and squishy heart.

Alternatively you can pick your own selection of pretty fabrics and trims from those available in the

Shop

Finally, we hope that you enjoyed our project.  We would love to see what you sew and create, so please do send us your pictures and we'll add them to our equally new and glossy customer gallery on our Facebook page.

Happy sewing