Pennant Banner

While looking for craft show booth ideas, I ran across several that had super cute pennant banners decorating them. I had to make some for myself! Here's how I did it!

To make two 3 yard long banners, I bought 1/2 yard of 4-5 different fabrics and two packs of double fold bias tape (3 yrds long).


I created a plastic triangle template with a 6 inch base and 10 inch height. Who knew I'd ever use that geometry I learned in high school?

Fold a piece of fabric in half, right sides together, matching the selvedges. If you place the base on the triangle along the bottom edge of the fabric and cut, then turn the template upside down so the point is at the bottom edge and cut, you should be able to cut 10 triangle pairs from a 1/2 yard of fabric. You're cutting through 2 layers of fabric, so you should have two identical triangles. Keep the pair together! 5 different fabrics will leave you with enough extra triangles to start on a third banner. (Sorry, I didn't think to take pictures of this step!)





With right sides together, sew along the long sides of the triangles with a 1/2" seam allowance. Leave the base open. Trim the seams to 1/4" inch. Turn triangle right side out and press. Use a scissor point to get a nice point on the triangle. Repeat for all triangles. (It really doesn't take as long as you might think.)





Starting about 7" from the end of the bias tape, pin the base of the triangle inside the fold of the tape. Pin the next triangle approximately 3/8" - 1/4" from the next one and so on. Stop about 7" from the other end of the bias tape. The first banner I did, used 19 triangles and the second only 16 triangles. It just depends on how you space them.





Stitch along the open edge of the bias tape, removing pins as you go.


Super, super easy! And kind of fun! Can't wait to put these on my tables at my craft shows this fall!

Random Stuff

Holy moly! It's been way too long since I updated this blog! I've had good intentions, just not very good follow through.

The truth is that I have been very busy! My first craft show of the fall season is in two weeks. I have been frantically sewing and sewing and sewing! I want to be absolutely certain that I have enough bags to fill our booth. Last night, I worked on making pennant banners to decorate our table. They are actually turning out very cute and I can't wait to finish them tonight. I'll try to post photos of that project.

My sister and I work together on our craft show booths. Jessica makes adorable headbands and hair accessories, as well as doll/baby blankets and travel pillowcases. Next Saturday, we are going to tape out a booth space on my living room floor and plan out our booths for the three shows we are doing.

I was telling a friend about the shows we have signed up for. This particular friend used to do craft shows and is the organizer for our local craft show. She said that the big show we are doing in November is really good. In fact, she sold out the first year she did it! Talk about throwing us into a panic and a frenzy of sewing!

Anyhoo, my dining room is covered in bits of fabric scraps, and my sewing machine is humming happily along each evening. It's nice to be busy!

One of my favorite things

I absolutely love to go to auctions. I don't go very often, but love to find a good one, especially if it is local. Saturday, I spent the entire day at a local estate auction. So many of the items I wanted went for much higher than I was willing to pay, including this totally amazing red retro chair. It had such a good shape and the red plush upholstery was in great condition. A few years ago, I probably could have bought it for a dollar, but now retro is in, and it sold for $27.50. Still a good deal, but I didn't think my hubby would appreciate me paying that much for an "ugly" chair.

I did end up buying a pair of J A Henckel crane scissors, an old box of thimbles, a six gallon stone crock, a vintage hat, a pair of wooden straight back chairs and a box of blue willow china which I collect. It is absolutely hilarious the way I get such an adrenaline rush from bidding at auctions. At the end of the day, I could barely write my check because my hand was shaking so badly. I was writing like a 90 year old woman! So embarrassing!

I've been playing with my new photo tent this evening. Here are some pictures of the treasures I bought this weekend!

Hubby wants to know what I'm going to use the crock for. Any suggestions?

My latest purchase and new favorite seller!

I am very excited, because this adorable little hat arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I purchased it from BKM Hattitude late last week. I can't believe how quickly it arrived and how cute it is! I adore hats, but don't wear them very often. Hats aren't exactly popular here in Kansas unless they are baseball hats advertising your favorite sports team or tractor company. However, I couldn't resist this little beauty, and I believe I will be back for more. Now, I just need to track down the perfect coat to pair this with!

A couple more hats I'd love to have from BKM!

P.S. The photo tent arrived yesterday. I'm hoping to play with it a bit tonight!

How much of a dork am I?

In our family, we get a lot of say in what we receive for birthday and Christmas presents. Quite often, I will be out shopping with my mom and see something I like, and she will say, "Is that something you would want for Christmas or your birthday?" If I say yes, then she will usually buy it. It may not sound like fun to those of you who likes surprises, but it's awfully nice to know I am getting something that I will definitely use. Besides, we always get surprise gifts, too. My husband and brother-in-law think it's great. They joke that you have to be careful about what you say you want, because you'll probably get it!

Anyway, for my birthday this year I am getting a postage scale and a photo tent. I am very excited! In fact, the postage scale is already at my house, but I haven't opened it yet. (My birthday is in October.) The photo tent is supposed to arrive tomorrow. We found it on Ebay, and I'm even the one who bid on it and sent the payment for it! (Mom doesn't have an Ebay or Paypal account.)

But, seriously, what kind of dork gets excited about postage scales and photo tents for their birthday?

Not another fabric website!

In case my fabric addiction wasn't bad enough, one of my customers introduced me to fabric.com, yesterday. They were having a 20% off sale, so, needless to say, I spent a chunk of change there before the sale ended last night! Got some great stuff and can't wait for it to get here. In the meantime, I made another stop at my local quilt shop. Truly, this is becoming at least a weekly visit. I should probably get help!

Yesterday, the first issue of my new subscription to Adorn arrived. Love that magazine! Very inspiring and full of fun ideas! Can't wait to sit down and read it cover to cover.

Sampler Contribution - DONE!

My contribution to the October Sampler is complete! I will be sending these 25 Itsy Bitsy Bags off for distribution in a few days. I just need to make some tags for them.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was for me to get all 25 of them done in plenty of time for the September 20th deadline. However, I can honestly say that 25 was enough of a commitment! I'll be sending the same amount for the December Sampler, so I guess it's time to get started on those. Actually, I just cut the Itsy Bitsy Bags out of the leftover fabric anytime I cut out a full size bag. I can stitch them up along with the full size bag without having to change thread. It really makes it easy to get a lot of them finished in a short amount of time.