Need that perfect little something to make the back-to-school magic happen? 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!) This banner project is the sweetest addition to your first day of school traditions. Bonus - it makes one of the best new-teacher gifts, since it can hang right on their classroom door.
What you'll need:
- This apple design, or this schoolhouse one!
- Fabric for the front and back of the banner, with Heat and Bond Lite ironed onto the underside. Small patterns or solids work best. A complementary but different fabric on the back adds a nice touch.
- Fabric for the appliqué design on the front (small, muted patterns or solids work best)
- 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!
- If you're going to float this project, something to float it on - sulky sticky is my favorite product.
- Sharp scissors (all the scissors - applique, fabric cutting, rotary blade, and exacto knife)
- Iron
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Spray adhesive
*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! Treat this as a starting point to find 'your' technique.
Let's get started!
- Float or hoop the felt: 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!
- Run the placement stitch around the project outline.
- Place and secure the background fabric: 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!
- Run the tack-down stitch.
- Run the placement stitch for the accent fabric. This will be the smaller banner shape!
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Place and secure the accent fabric: Place your fabric (Heat and Bond Lite side down) on the banner and clamp/pin/sewtite the layers together.
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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!
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Stitch the main design (apple or schoolhouse). Each piece of the design follows the same pattern: placement, tack down, and bean stitch top stitch. Trim each piece of fabric before moving on — for example, stitch and trim the stem, then stitch and trim the apple, then stitch and trim the leaf. 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.
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Attach the backing fabric (this is the tricky part!). Slide your background fabric (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.
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Run 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 together.
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Remove and trim. Pop your whole project out of the frame and trim the edges. I use a quilting ruler with a ¼ inch line and a rotary cutter to make sharp, clean sides on this project.
- Finishing touch. Use an exacto blade to slice through the button holes, thread the ribbon through, tie a bow, and done!
Tips for customizing this project
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:
- Use one thread color for a fast, clean stitch out - 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. 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
PS. Want to see a video on how to make this project? Here it is!
