Halloween Fun

I am working on getting LM's Halloween costume finished.  This year should be fun as this will be the first time that he is able to Trick or Treat and actually get the entire process.  We also might begin implementing the Switch Witch this year.  How it works is that after selecting a few pieces of candy, LM will leave his loot out and the Switch Witch comes in the middle of the night and switches his loot for a present that he has been wanting.  In his case, I think it might be a few more matchbox cars.

How do you handle your kid's loot?

Lastly, here is a cool Halloween light show.  I love it but am thanking my stars that they don't live on my street or next door!

Two Sided Bunting Tutorial

Two Sided Bunting Tutorial

So, with the anniversary of 9/11 my team wanted to have an all-American theme this time for our food table to acknowledge the day and our fellow Americans.  Even though I am struggling to pull my life together, my team thinks I have it ALL together and they expect something neat and cool from me for the table. I decided to make a bunting for the day.  I figure I can always reuse it on subsequent Fourth of July celebrations.   Here is my version of the every day bunting that you see ALL over the Internet now.

           

Marking (the confusing part)

1.     My fabric is utilizing the patriotic theme (or what I call the sale table theme) for this bunting.  I have several different colors, but you want to have at least pieces that are 20 inches wide by 44 (or 42 ) inches long.

2.     Fold your fabric in half so you now have a piece that is 10X44.  If you want, you can press the fold.  I find that this does make it easier.  If you do this, fold it so the WRONG sides face each other.  If you want to iron a bit of stabilizer in between the pieces this is the time.

On one long side, you are going to want to take your water-soluble fabric marker and make a mark 4 inches in from the corner. Then, mark every 8 inches. On the other long edge start FROM THE SAME SIDE AS THE OTHER; continue marking every 8 inches and ending with the last mark 4 inches from the end.  You may have to fudge this depending on if your fabric was 44 or 42 inches.  You will see when you start cutting. 

3.     This is the magic part.  Connect one dot on one side to the dot closet to on the other side so it looks like you are making a zig zag line back and forth across the fabric. You now have your flag triangles for your bunting!  Once again, you might have to fudge this or be ok with having half flags left over for another project.

Cutting (the nerve racking but easy part)

4.     Cut your flags out using the ruler as a guide. You will have 10 flags. You will not be using the half flags from the ends.  If you want more, make more!

Sewing (the fun part)

5.     Sew the two long sides of each flag together, using a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Don’t worry about the flat side as that will be covered.  You can be creative here and use a decorative stitch if you want.  Just make sure you leave enough room to use your pinking shears on the sides for that “special touch”.  Pink after you sew- not when you attach them together with the bias tape.  Don’t ask me why or how I know this.  I just do.

6.     Run and get your 2-inch bias tape. How much do you need, well that depends on how many flags you have.  So you might want to eyeball this ahead of time. 

7.     Sew the first 12 inches of tape- this will be the tie.

8.     Put the open end of the flag on the tape making sure it is up in the crease. Fold over the bias tape and pin if you want.  Lay the next flag down about an inch from the other. Repeat the same process until you have about 12 inches left at the end.  You might have to add more bias tape.

9.     Sew the bias tape closed making sure to catch both sides of the tape.

10.  I found that I really don’t need to pin the flags in the tape as it is easy to just “wing it”

11.  Sew the length of the bias tape as close to the pinned edge as possible. Use the ends as ties to hang your flag bunting.

12.  Hang your bunting in a fun place- I am going to use this one for my tennis match on 9/11.  What a nice way to honor fellow Americans on this day!

Extra notes

·      I have heard of people who make a triangle template out of cardboard or paper, but this seems to be one extra step for me.  So I don’t do it.

·      I use a fusible interface between my fabrics so it holds a bit better in the wash, the wind and when making.  I think the pinking shears also make crisper marks.

·      Since this is a two-sided bunting, you really can make the different sides different patterns or different colors.  Just cut two 10X44 inch pieces of fabric and fuse together (wrong sides together) I decided not to do this as you would be able to see the bunting from two different sides (sometimes I am smart like that).


I am linking up to Skip to my Lou and Mady by You Monday