Banner Making

The past few weeks have been rather silent as I’ve been doing pro bono sewing for school. I made six circle skirts for the school play and five attendance award banners to help motivate students to improve some of their poor attendance rates.

One of the art teachers sketched out a design and then we collaborated on the overall size and depth of the banner, plus how it would be displayed above the winning classroom door.

Size of banner:  Approximately 34″ x 19″ plus a 4″ fringe border.

Supplies needed:
1-1/2 yards Fabric for banner
1 – Fat quarter for lettering
Paper backed fusible web
1-1/4 yards Fringe (optional)
Wood dowel (1/2″ by 36″ solid oak dowel from Home Depot)
1-1/4 yards Cording or string to hang the banner
Glue gun (to attach the fringe and cording)
Hot fix crystals (added a bit of bling over the “i”)
Thread

Extremely helpful: Access to a manual or electric die cutting machine (3″ or 4″ letters)  Or, pick up a set of punch out letters in your preferred height from the teacher supply store in your favorite font to use as templates.

Construction was very simple – much like a lined window topper. I cut the front piece the full width & length needed, but cut the lining minus the foldover needed for the header and casing.

1.  Fuse letters and motifs to banner front. Optional:  stitch letters as desired. (I did not sew the letters down. Fusing is sufficient for something like this.)
2. Place front and back banner pieces right sides together and sew from one side around the bottom and up the other side, stopping just before the turndown for the header.
3. Turn inside out and press.  Topstitch if desired.
4. Turn under seam allowances along header portion.
5. Press over header portion and pin in place.
6. Sew 4 lines of stitching. 1/8″ from top edge,

Notes for next time:
(1) Sand and paint/varnish the hanging dowel
(2) 3″ letters would work better than the 2-1/4″ in the project
(3) Find a trophy template or school mascot (about 6″ tall) to put on either side of the lettering.