It’s stars and stripes season!
This pennant banner is a quick, fun stitch that's perfect for dressing up your mantle or front door.
Materials Needed:
- Embroidery design : stars and stripes pennant banner
- Fabric for the front and back of the pennant, with Heat and Bond Lite ironed onto the underside. Small patterns or solids work best, and a complementary contrasting fabric on the back is a nice touch. You'll need enough fabric for the front and back of the banner, the accent triangle, and the star.
- Sheet of white craft foam OR white stiff craft felt – your choice here, I use 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 (applique, fabric scissors, rotary blade, and exacto knife)
- Iron
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Spray adhesive
NOTE: There are so many methods for doing projects like this, so I just want to give you a few ideas and how I do them! Play around and see what you like best. There is no ‘wrong’ way to do this!
Let’s get started!
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Float or hoop the felt or foam. If floating, clamp it securely. If using magnetic hoops or traditional hoops, then this project just got easier for you - just hoop the felt or foam directly!
- Run the placement stitch around the project.
- Attach the background fabric. Spray your felt/foam with adhesive spray, and then place your fabric (Heat and Bond Lite side down) on top of your felt/foam. Secure these layers together!
- Run the tack-down stitch.
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Run the placement stitch for the accent fabric (the triangle shape)
- Attach the accent fabric. Place your fabric (Heat and Bond Lite side down) on the pennant and clamp/pin/sewtite the layers together.
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Run the tack-down stitch for the accent fabric. A bean stitch step will directly follow!
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Stitch the star! Run your placement stitch, lay down your star fabric, run your tack down stitch step and the bean stitch step. Trim the star AFTER you’ve run that final bean stitch stem.
Tip: If the fabric is light or thin and you don't want the layer underneath showing through, double up the fabric layer for better coverage.
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Attach the backing fabric of the pennant (tricky part!): Remove the hoop from the machine, then slide the background fabric (Heat and Bond side up) between the hoop and the machine bed or arm. Lightly spray it with adhesive and press it to the back of the project to keep it from shifting. Binder clips, fabric clips, or sew tites can help secure it further. Run the final applique step.
NOTE - before you keep going, make sure you've trimmed the star and accent fabric. Don't trim the base fabric of the pennant yet - wait for the final finishing step! If you don't trim the accent and star now, the button holes will stitch through them and it won't have that clean, polished look.
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Stitch the final bean outline. 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.
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Remove and trim: Pop your whole project out of the frame and trim! I use a quilting ruler with a ¼ inch border and a rotary cutter to make sharp, clean sides on this project.
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Finishing touches: Use an exacto blade to open the buttonholes, thread the ribbon through, and tie a bow. Done! Make one, three, five — however many you need.
Some tips and tricks:
- Pick one thread color – my favorite machine for this project is my single needle! I pick my thread color and use that color for every single step.
- Get creative with fabrics for a pattern – If you’re doing this to hang on your mantle and need many, alternate colors to make it really fun!
Most importantly, enjoy this one! It's such a simple stitch and brings such a wow factor. Hope you love it!
Beth
