Dear community,
in this blog post you can find detailed instructions for sewing quick and easy festive bunting.
Quick and easy festive bunting
I am a huge fan of bunting! They are a great way to use up left over bits of fabric and they are super easy to make.
I have bunting hanging from the awnings above the door and window of my sewing room and along the path leading to it. It’s a fun way to add a bit of my personality to my work space.
Bunting is such a simple way to add a festive touch to any event.
You can make them in a variety of colours, fabrics or shapes.
I chose a neutral colour palette and versatile embroidery design so that I can use this bunting for many different events.
You can hang the bunting wherever you want, like above the fireplace or from the curtain rails.
I chose to hang mine up in the garden where we have Christmas eve dinner.
As I live in Cape Town, South Africa, Christmas falls in the middle of Summer so we usually have a beautiful warm evening.
Needed
- Fabric scraps (atleast 24x20cm each)
- Ribbon/string (atleast 2m)
- Decorative/Embroidery thread
- Sewing Machine
- Overlocker
- Embroidery Module
- Embroidery Hoop
- Stabilizer
- Fabric Scissors
- Fabric marker
- Safety pin
- Bunting Template (see below)
Steps
1. Download a bunting template.
Bunting Template 1
Bunting Template 2
Bunting Template 3
2. Cut out your bunting pieces. You can do as many as you like, I did 9.
3. Overlock the top edge of each piece of bunting, using a 3 or 4 thread flat stitch.
You can overlock along the other edges using a 3-thread rolled hem stitch or leave them raw like I did.
Decorative Stitching
4. Select a decorative stitch.
I chose stitch #906 on my machine as I liked how festive the little stars looked.
5. Use a thread that will stand out against your fabric.
I chose to use 2 embroidery threads at the same time to create an interesting effect.
This also strengthened my thread, preventing it from breaking while stitching.
6. Sew along the edges, excluding the top edge.
If you are not going to embroider, skip to the next section to see how to finish your bunting.
Embroidery
7. Set up your embroidery module.
8. Embroider a design on to a contrasting piece of fabric.
The design should not exceed 6x6cm.
I tried to save time and fabric by embroidering 2 designs at the same time.
9. Once finished, remove your fabric from the hoop and remove the stabilizer.
Using something circular (about 7cm in diameter), draw a circle around your design on the wrong side of the fabric.
Unfortunately I didn’t leave enough space between the designs while embroidering, but I made it work!
10. Cut around the circle, roughly 1cm out from the drawn line.
On the wrong side of a piece of bunting, draw another circle (7cm in diameter).
11. Place the embroidered piece of fabric, face down, on to the wrong side of the piece of bunting, matching up the drawn lines.
Stitch using a straight stitch along the drawn line.
12. Trim around the embroidered piece of fabric.
13. Flip the piece of bunting over and cut a circle inside the line of stitches.
Don’t cut too close to the stitching.
Be very careful not to cut the embroidered piece behind it.
Finishing
14. Fold over the top of each piece of bunting. Refer to the template for the fold line.
Straight stitch along the overlocked edge.
15. Secure the ribbon/string to a safety pin and thread it through the top of each bunting piece.
16. Cut a few strips of fabric and tie them between each piece of bunting.
I would love to see your makes, please feel free to share them with me!
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Happy Sewing and Happy Holidays!
Hannah-Rose
Love your ideas.
Thank you!! <3