Pennant Banner How-To

Last year I shifted gears a bit and challenged myself to make more of my Christmas gifts by hand (i.e. prior to last year I always purchased every single Christmas gift). It took some planning ahead, and it required a lot more of my time, but it was gloriously rewarding! Everyone loved their gifts! I felt proud! And, most importantly, each gift was made more beautiful by the fact that it was handmade. In other words, the recipients knew they had been given more than an apron or reusable grocery sack. They had been given some of my time, my energy, my creativity--just for them. That is what I love most about handmade gifts.

We hope to give you lots of great handmade gift ideas here at Bloom. Today's is one of my favorites, and if you don't consider yourself a seamstress, this one's for you!

Here's what I love love love. Pennant banners. For everyday decor. For holiday. Inside. Outside. Whatever. I love them!

(my 4th of July banner)

I am a completely amateur sewer, but even for me, these are simple. Here's what you do:

Cut out a triangle-shaped template out of paper or cardstock. Whatever size you please.

Use your template to cut out your triangles. You can use pinking shears if you want. I prefer raw, straight edges.
To make a (double-sided) pennant, sew 2 triangles together with a zig-zag stitch. Start here at the upper right-hand corner and sew down.
When you get to the bottom point of the triangle you will leave the needle down, lift the foot, and turn the pennant so you can sew down the other side.
Sew down the second side.

Now your pennant is ready. (You don't need to sew up the top, as it will be sewn later.) You can use ribbon to string your pennants together, but I prefer double-fold bias tape (about $1.50 in the notions area of a fabric store). It makes it so simple! Open up the bias tape and place the pennants in between the 2 sides. I line the pennants up so their corners are just touching.

Pin the pennants in place.

Once it's all pinned up, run the whole thing (including the ends of the bias tape) through the sewing machine, using a zig-zap stitch again. That's it!

Some notes: I love to really mix my fabrics, and I don't usually follow an exact pattern. Also, you can make your banner as long as you like--you choose how many pennants to make.

Let me know if you have any questions!

-Anne