How To Make Bunting

Thu 25 Aug 2016 Amy Kilvington

We recently held a Beautiful Bunting contest where 12 lucky winners bagged themselves some stunning handmade bunting. Our talented seamstresses created four different styles of bunting inspired by some of the biggest trends of the season – Floral, Tropical, Brazilian and Patriotic. There was huge interest in the competition, with hundreds of people getting in touch to tell us which style they’d love to win.

Unfortunately, not everyone could be a winner. That’s why we want to show you how to make it yourself. If you’re a little down in the dumps about missing out on our competition, have no fear – it’s super easy to make your very own set of bunting! Read on to find out more…

How to make bunting

Select your fabric

Step 1: First, select the fabric that you want to work with. You can create your flags from a range of different colours and patterns, or stick to one for a uniform effect. Either way, your bunting is sure to make an impact!

Step 2: Once you’ve chosen your material, it’s time to make the flags. Fold your fabric in half lengthways, allowing you to draw a line of flags on the top side.

Measuring your bunting

Step 3: Some people find it easier to make a triangular template out of cardboard and trace the flags onto the fabric. Others prefer to measure the three points and mark with a pen. Either way, ensure your triangles are isosceles (two sides the same length, one side slightly shorter) – we’ve used lengths of 20cm, 20cm and 18cm, but feel free to amend depending on the size of bunting you want.

Step 4: Once you marked out the shapes of your flags, cut them out carefully with fabric scissors. When you’ve gotten rid of the scrap, you should be left with a row of triangles sitting upon another row.

Stitching your bunting

Step 5: Each flag will consist of two triangles. Before you stitch, turn them so the patterns face together, so they’ll essentially be inside-out. Now, sew along the two longest sides, leaving the shorter side open like a pocket. You can hand stitch if you prefer, but a sewing machine will make for a much quicker, neater job.

Step 6: When your flags are stitched, turn them inside-out again to reveal the right side of the fabric. Iron each piece to get rid of any creases and make every flag neat and crisp. Next, decide on the order you want the flags to occur on the bunting, and arrange them in a line.

Iron your bunting

Step 7: Now, it’s time for some sums! Count up the amount of flags you are using for your bunting, and multiply this number by the length of the shortest side of the flags. So, if you have six flags with an 18cm short side, you’ll write down: 6 x 18 = 108.

You will also have to work out the total length of the gaps between each flag. To do this, start with your number of flags and minus 1, then multiply the result by 3cm, which is the recommended size of the gaps. So, 6 – 1 = 5, 5 x 3 = 15. Now, add together the two results: 108 + 15 = 123.

You now need to ensure that you leave enough space for the ends of the bunting – we recommend leaving a length of 10cm on each end, so you can easily tie or pin it. Multiply the lengths of the end by 2 – so 10 x 2 = 20 – and finally, add this number to your other result. So, 20 + 123 = 143. This leaves you with the total length of bunting tape required. For us, that’s 143cm.

Step 8: Measure your bunting tape and cut to size. Now, take your ruler and mark 10cm from one end. Where you’ve marked, the edge of your first flag will be placed. Ensure you line up the short, open side with the tape, and then stitch together.

Stitch your bunting to the tape

Step 9: Repeat the process, remembering to leave a 3cm gap between the flags. Once you’ve finished stitching each one on, you should be left with a neat, even, and extremely beautiful strip of bunting.

Step 10: Hang your bunting in pride of place for you to enjoy and all of your visitors to admire. You could also share it with us. Just tweet a picture to @InteriorGoods – we can’t wait to see!


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