I wanted to make a bunting for Zgirl's birthday, so I scoured the internet for tutorials to get a basic idea. None were quite what I had in mind, but mine is mostly based on
this one at Whip up (I <3 this blog). So here is MY take on a bunting =) (be warned, extremely pic heavy)
So start off by printing out whatever word you want. I used Marker Felt font at 400 pt. (It may have been better at 375, but 350 on the tutorial I saw seemed too small) Trace them (backward) onto some wonder under. Iron onto the back of your fabric. I used a variety of cottons, but I imagine you could use just about anything you can iron. Cut out your letters, carefully.
Cut out a template for your triangle. Mine was 10 1/4" at the widest, and 13 1/4" up the middle. I had my awesome engineering husband draw it, because he has a steady hand (also, I hate trying to draw straight lines) Cut out 2 of each fabric for each triangle, or go nuts and do separate prints for each side. Do this carefully! I hardly use pins, but I used a lot to make sure I was more precise.
Iron your letter on.
Use whatever stitch you like to applique it on. I used the applique or blanket stitch on my machine. A contrasting thread may look better than matching.
Turn the triangle pieces to face right sides together. Sew all around (I used a 1/4" seam allowance on the sides and 1/2" at the top.) Leave a small opening to turn your triangle. Before turning, trim the tip of the triangle. I didn't do such a hot job, so my points aren't great.
This is what it looks like before ironing.
Iron carefully. You can topstitch or not-I think it looks better topstitched. (left-not topstitched, right-topstitched) and you'll have to either do a slip stitch to close the opening you left to turn the triangle, or catch it in your topstitching.
Here's where I was stumped-I didn't want to sew them onto a strip of fabric or bias tape, and leaving an opening to thread something through seemed like a lot of work. DaddyG (like always!) had a brilliant idea-use buttonholes! So I made two buttonholes, equal distances from the sides (1 1/2" from the tip of the point and 1 1/4" down from the line of topstitching if you care) and perfection! Now, if I ever want, I can reuse the letters for another bunting.
A tip I never knew-put a pin at the top of the buttonhole, so you don't accidentally slice through your stitches.
And I'm done! I used a ribbon I had laying around, but I think a solid color would look best. Up next is a "Happy birthday bunting".
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