How to Make a Back to School Banner

How to Make a Back to School Banner

Need that perfect little something to make the back to school magic?

We all want that perfect back to school photo on the first day of school - sweet outfit, brand new lunch box with a delicious cute snack, and the cleanest shoes that will ever be on my child's feet.  In reality, the first day of school for us is absolute chaos and we barely make it there on time! (Pro tip - take the picture a few days in advance!)  Better yet - make one of these for your kiddo's new teacher for them to hang on their door.  The best 'new teacher' gift!

What you'll need: 

  • This design, or this one! 
  • Fabric – enough for the front and back of the banner, with Heat and Bond Lite ironed on the underside of the fabric. I find that small patterns or solids work best
    for this - and it’s fun to do the back of the banner a complimentary different fabric!  You'll also need fabric for the applique design on the front of the banner (again, lean towards tiny muted patterns or solids for the best effect). 
  • Sheet of white craft foam OR white stiff craft felt – your choice here, I lean towards felt on this one for the sturdiness/bulk) but it’s up to you!

*note: there are so many methods for doing projects like this, so disclaimer - there is no one perfect method!  You'll find your own favorites as you go.  Play around and see what you like best - there is no wrong way to do this!

Let's get started!

  • Step 1: Float or hoop your felt on your embroidery machine. If I float, then I clamp it within an inch of it’s life! If you’ve got magnetic hoops, or prefer a traditional hoop - then this project just got easier, directly hoop the felt/foam and pop it on the machine!
  • Step 2: Run the placement stitch around the project.
  • Step 3: Spray your fabric lightly with adhesive spray, and then place your fabric (Heat and Bond Lite side down) on top of your felt/foam. Clamp these layers together!
  • Step 4: Run the tack-down stitch. 
    Step 5: Run the placement stitch for the accent fabric.  This will be the smaller banner shape!
  • Step 6: Place your fabric (Heat and Bond Lite side down) on the banner and clamp/pin/sewtite the layers together.
  • Step 7: Run the tack-down stitch for the accent fabric.  The bean stitch for this layer will run next, and wait until after the bean stitch top stitch to trim this layer of fabric! 
  • Step 5: Now is the time for the design!  You'll run steps for either your apple or your schoolhouse here.  In all of these steps, it will run as follows - placement, tack down, top stitch (in this case, a bean stitch).  Wait to trim until after the bean stitch step, and trim in between items on the design (For example, do the apple, then trim the apple.  Do the stem, then trim the stem.  Etc etc etc)

    NOTE:  After the design (apple, school house, etc) is a great time to personalize with a name or a 'First day of School' curve.  Do this before Step 6 so you'll have a nice clean back of your project.  
  • Step 6: TRCKY PART! Grab your background fabric again and slide it (Heat and Bond Lite side UP!) between your hoop and the bed/arm of your embroidery machine. I like to take my hoop off the machine first and spray the fabric lightly with adhesive spray and stick it to the back side of my project to help keep the backing fabric from sliding around. You can also add binder clips, fabric clips, or sew tites to help hold it in place!  Run the last applique step. 

  • Step 8: Run your the bean stitch outline around the whole project! The design is programmed to add the button holes here for your ribbon or string, and it’s important that they run now so they can go through both the top fabric, the bottom fabric, and the felt/foam.
  • Step 9: Pop your whole project out of the frame and trim! I use a quilting ruler with a ¼ inch line and a rotary cutter to make sharp, clean sides on this project. 


  • Step 10: Use an exacto blade to slice through the button holes and run your ribbon through.
  • Tie a pretty bow and....Done!

There are so many ways to make this unique, custom, and fun! 

I love that you can customize the fabric to match your customer's vision (or yours!).  There are a few tips that I think make this even more fun: 

  • Pick one color for your thread - my favorite machine to do this on is my single needle, and even when I use my multi-needle I change all of the thread colors to the same thread so it will stitch quickly.  
  • Don't skimp on ironing with this project.  I try to make sure my fabric is as crisp as possible before I put the heat and bond lite on the back, and then I press it before I use the rotary cutter and after I finish cutting!  
  • You can hang this with a bow on each side or a single bow in the middle!  Play around with this (multiple ribbons, ribbons with tails, etc) until you find a style that's all you!
  • Consider offering these as a pair - one that says 'first day of school' and one that says 'last day of school' - how neat would that be!

Hope this helps!

Beth

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