Bunting

Does anyone else ever think so hard about doing something that they forget to actually sit down and do it? I constantly forget to respond to texts because I already thought about my answer, but I don't get as far as actually writing it. Sometimes I do that with this blog too. I think in such great detail abut writing a post that I forget to actually write it down.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that I meant to write this last Saturday, but I forgot. Oops.

Anyway, the wedding project of weeks past has been bunting to hang from the ceiling. I'm particularly excited about this project because all of the flag fabric has come from either my grandmothers, my mom's, my future mother in law or my own fabric stash. So it hasn't cost me any money, and it also feels like a great, subtle, way to incorporate the other crafty women in my life into my wedding.

Originally I was going to sew together two triangles to get fully finished flags, but after due consideration, I decided that was far too much extra work, and what I wanted to do instead was use the flags to make a quilt after the wedding. I really don't want wedding items that are single use only and a quilt seems like a great way to reuse the flags and to have as a nice keepsake.

I was inspired by images like the quilt below. I want to link to the original source for this picture, but unfortunately, I can't track it back and I can't find the image on the original page anymore. Y'all know how Pinterest can be sometimes. It seems to come from a shop called Shabby Fabrics.

Anyway, making bunting is delightfully easy, especially with a bias tape maker and a rotary cutter and mat. Here is my giant stack of flags. I made a cardboard template for the triangles by drawing a horizontal line 7" long, then drawing a perpendicular line from the middle of that line, also 7" long. I draw a line from each end of my horizontal line to the end of the perpendicular line nad ta-da I had a triangle. The cardboard was nice and thick so it was super easy to run my rotary cutter along it and end up with hundreds of identical flags.

Next, I made 1/2" double fold bias tape. Sure you can buy bias tape, but it works about to about a buck a yard and I need around about 50 yds worth. Not very cost effective. Alternatively, Craftsy has a pretty good tutorial on making continuous bias tape. So for $5 ish I bought cheap white cotton and made my own bias tape. 

Having a bias tape maker really helps with that process because you don't have to fold everything by hand. You just feed the fabric through the fat end, and it gets folded on its own. you iron the folds while slowly pulling the bias tape maker down the length of your bias strips, like pulling a zipper. Bias tape makers make single fold tape, so you have to go back and fold it in half yourself, but it's still pretty easy-peasy. I've got a 1" single fold bias tape maker, so I can make 1/2" double fold bias tape. Bias tape makers are pretty darn cheap, but each one only does one size. You can buy them individually or in kits. 

Man, I could talk about bias tape for days. Maybe one day I'll write a post on bias tape and why it is 1) the most wonderful stuff in the world and 2) not just for quilters. 

Once I got my bias tape made I sewed it shut, tucking a flag in between the layers every couple of inches. Bias tape is nice and flexible so it will hang in pleasing drapes from the ceiling. In the meantime, I laid it out on my bed to try and get an idea of how it was turning out. (I don't think it goes well with my current bedspread/pillows. Haha)  I've finished sewing two eighty some odd feet long strands of it so far. I don't know the exact dimensions of our venue, so I'm just going to keep sewing until I run out of flags. I will probably end up with way too much bunting, but I would rather have too much than too little, and even with extra this is a super cheap project. Yay stash fabric!