Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Vintage. Summer. Gingham. Bunting.

Hi friends of Corey!  Cheryl from a pretty cool life. here! 
Are you all in full-blown summer mode yet?  My boys and I certainly are.  We spend every moment we can outside, soaking up the sun and enjoying the warm summer breezes. 
I thought a fun addition to our yard would be a sweet little bunting, vintage inspired, and made from bright and cheerful gingham. 
Buntings are whimsical and sweet, but best of all they're so easy to make!  Here's how I made mine.
Start by cutting 4 inch wide strips of fabric.  I cut my gingham on the bias, but cut it however you'd like your pattern to show on the flags.
Mark the bottom edge of your fabric strips with a disappearing ink pen or chalk pencil every 4 inches.  Do the same at the top, but make your first dot 2 inches in from the edge. 

Line up those dots with a quilter's rule, and start cutting with your rotary cutter.  Save time and cut multiple layers at once! 
ps.  If you don't like raw, frayed edges, you could do this with a pinking blade. 
Sew two triangles, wrong sides together, closely along the edge of the two longer sides of each flag.
I pulled at threads along the raw edges for more of a worn, vintage-y feel.
My bunting is 30 flags long, but of course you can customize your own length.  After you've finished sewing your flags, you'll need a piece of string or twine long enough to accomodate your flags, plus a few feet extra at both ends for hanging.
Then, using a zig zag stitch, sew your flags to the piece of twine.
Adding on each flag as you go...
Hang it up and enjoy the summer breezes!
I hope everyone enjoyed this little project.  Thanks for having me!  Feel free to visit any time!

8 comments:

Kate said...

LOVE this!! Wishing you had posted it prior to my daughter's rainbow birthday, this is a GREAT way to use up all my gingham scraps! Thanks for another great idea

Carla G. said...

Those flags are so sweet and so pretty! I had one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments...I just love them!!!

chris said...

Lovely lovely. Thanks for sharing.

Tiffany said...

cute. luv the colors.

1 Funky Woman said...

I just found you through Pretty Cool Life! I loved all your ideas! We love the Hungry Caterpillar in our house! I love the felt crowns! These flags are so wonderful for a party! Sign me up, you have a new follower! I think I might be here a while!

Cat said...

Love these! I may attempt to make them for my daughters 1st birthday in a few months! Love this blog, too. I've been to it before....perhaps from yours, Cheryl! Thanks!

Moore Minutes said...

This is so fun and adorable. I usually shy away from fabric projects but this one looks too cute and I would love to try.

Erika Mulvenna said...

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! Have you seen what others are stitching up and sharing over at www.WeAllSew.com?