I love flags and I definitely love bunting. Nothing feels more festive than pennants for a celebration, if you ask me! You’ve probably seen some American flag bunting in your neighborhood as we get ready to celebrate the Fourth of July. I wanted to make my own, but give it a twist for my house. Here’s an easy tutorial on how to make some modern bunting you can hang outside this weekend.
Start out by selecting your fabrics and get them ready for sewing. I used six different patterns, in blue and red shades. Each strip of fabric is 10.5″x30.” Once they’re cut, press each piece and decide how you’d like the color scheme to be laid out.
Sew the first two pieces together, right sides facing each other. I used a 1/4″ seam allowance for this project.
Continue to sew all six pieces together to make your big piece of bunting. As you go along, press the seams on the back, light to dark.
The finished front. Now, time to work on the back!
Measure you’re finished front and cut a piece to fit the back. I used a cream fabric with a bit of a fabric to back mine. Cut the piece and press.
Pin the right sides of the front and backing together and sew together. Leave an opening on one side, a few inches long, so that you can flip the piece right-side out.
With right-side pieces folded out, press the piece and top stitch the top. When you get to the opening you left, fold the fabric in, pin, and sew shut.
Once the top stitching is done, press again. (Are you noticing a trend, here?) At this point you can add ribbon, trim, etc. I quilted mine and added some ribbon to the bottom of the bunting. I also added some fabric loops as I decided to hang mine off a skinny piece of wood. You could also use tacks and attach directly to the wood.
I cut a piece of wood (1×2) the length of my bunting with a little extra on either side. Using eye hooks, screw one in to each end. We added some chain to hang from our swing hooks on the porch.
There you go!
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