DIY American Flag Bunting - Guest Post Corner of Main

Hi, I'm Kelly from Corner of Main. I am a wife, mommy, crafter, shopper, DIY lover, blogger and eye doctor (in my spare time ;) )

I am so excited to be guest posting at DIY by Design today; thanks for having me Judy!
Since the 4th of July is just days away I thought I would share my DIY American Flag Bunting.

This was a project that I started about a year and a half ago...and I am finishing up just in time for this year's holiday!
The idea for the bunting came two years ago during our first 4th of July at our house. My husband loved the look of red, white, and blue bunting hanging from all the windows in our home. We picked up some relatively inexpensive buntings at Menards and hung them up.

Easy peasy. Until it rained. The blue and red ran into the white and the banners were garbage after that. So what we thought was going to be an annual decoration turned into a disposable one-time-use type of thing (it wasn't inexpensive after all). We wanted to have something we could reuse so I decided to make some. We still had one bunting that was not destroyed, so I used it as a guide:
Basically it is just one large striped rectangle held together with a ring in the center through grommeted holes.
I found some canvas material at JoAnn's, bought enough to make 10 banners, cut it up....and it sat by my sewing machine for about a year and a half! Once I actually motivated myself to get sewing and grommeting they were super simple to make! Here's the details:
How to Make Red, White, and Blue Window Bunting
Materials: Red, White & Blue canvas material (it is easiest to use a wide bolt of fabric-I used 57"), sewing supplies, grommet kit, metal ring that opens and closes (loose leaf ring)
1. Prewash and dry all fabric.
2. Cut washed fabric into 7" x 57" wide strips (If you can find wider fabric that will also work, the original bunting was about 60" wide unfolded finished)-one of each color

3. Sew the Red to the White, and then the White to the Blue (with about a 1/2" seem allowance) to create a long rectangle.
4. Hem all edges by folding over each side 1/2" and stitching. I used a zig zag stitch in hopes to make the seam more durable. Your finished piece should be about 56" x 18"

5. Measure along the top of the flag for grommet placement. I placed the first grommet 1" in and just below the zig zag stitch, then each grommet after was 3" apart.

The last was then 1" from the final edge. If your flag is not 56" wide this placement may not work so make sure you measure it out first!
6. Punch holes for grommets and pound them in (the hole punch that came with the kit wasn't too great so I used a different hole punch which was marginally better).

7. Add grommets in each lower (red) corner for hanging.
8. Add ring to top portion.

9. Hang by nails using the grommets in the red corners and the center ring.

Ta da! Happy 4th of July! What do you think? Do you decorate your house for the Fourth? Do you have anything fun planned for the day?
I hope you all enjoy your holiday, and thanks again Judy!!
On Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 6:03 PM, DIYbyDesign wrote: Yes definitely. Just send me the HTML code and a short intro of yourself at the beginning. Judy On Jun 11, 2013, at 10:08 PM, Kelly Ann wrote: Hi Judy, I fixed up a 4th of July post about American Flag Bunting. Do you think you can post it before the 4th? If not, let me know ASAP and I will figure something else out! I think you are going out of town just prior to that, so hopefully it works =) Have a great night, Kelly
Hi, I'm Kelly from Corner of Main. I am a wife, mommy, crafter, shopper, DIY lover, blogger and eye doctor (in my spare time ;) )

I am so excited to be guest posting at DIY by Design today; thanks for having me Judy!
Since the 4th of July is just days away I thought I would share my DIY American Flag Bunting.

This was a project that I started about a year and a half ago...and I am finishing up just in time for this year's holiday!
The idea for the bunting came two years ago during our first 4th of July at our house. My husband loved the look of red, white, and blue bunting hanging from all the windows in our home. We picked up some relatively inexpensive buntings at Menards and hung them up.

Easy peasy. Until it rained. The blue and red ran into the white and the banners were garbage after that. So what we thought was going to be an annual decoration turned into a disposable one-time-use type of thing (it wasn't inexpensive after all). We wanted to have something we could reuse so I decided to make some. We still had one bunting that was not destroyed, so I used it as a guide:
Basically it is just one large striped rectangle held together with a ring in the center through grommeted holes.
I found some canvas material at JoAnn's, bought enough to make 10 banners, cut it up....and it sat by my sewing machine for about a year and a half! Once I actually motivated myself to get sewing and grommeting they were super simple to make! Here's the details:
How to Make Red, White, and Blue Window Bunting
Materials: Red, White & Blue canvas material (it is easiest to use a wide bolt of fabric-I used 57"), sewing supplies, grommet kit, metal ring that opens and closes (loose leaf ring)
1. Prewash and dry all fabric.
2. Cut washed fabric into 7" x 57" wide strips (If you can find wider fabric that will also work, the original bunting was about 60" wide unfolded finished)-one of each color

3. Sew the Red to the White, and then the White to the Blue (with about a 1/2" seem allowance) to create a long rectangle.
4. Hem all edges by folding over each side 1/2" and stitching. I used a zig zag stitch in hopes to make the seam more durable. Your finished piece should be about 56" x 18"

5. Measure along the top of the flag for grommet placement. I placed the first grommet 1" in and just below the zig zag stitch, then each grommet after was 3" apart.

The last was then 1" from the final edge. If your flag is not 56" wide this placement may not work so make sure you measure it out first!
6. Punch holes for grommets and pound them in (the hole punch that came with the kit wasn't too great so I used a different hole punch which was marginally better).

7. Add grommets in each lower (red) corner for hanging.
8. Add ring to top portion.

9. Hang by nails using the grommets in the red corners and the center ring.

Ta da! Happy 4th of July! What do you think? Do you decorate your house for the Fourth? Do you have anything fun planned for the day?
I hope you all enjoy your holiday, and thanks again Judy!!