In Your Face Fabric Lady! (Part II - Nautical Flags)

Well, if that Fabric Lady isn't scared after my last post about the cute Pennant Bunting, she will be after this one. (If you are confused as to why I seem to have a personal vendetta against a woman I am calling "Fabric Lady," read my post Fabric, Glue and Macaroni and it will all become clear.) I guess I am on a little big of a flag kick as my next project was the real reason why I wanted to go to Jo-Ann Fabrics in the first place.

As I have mentioned before, Zachary's room has a nautical theme. I really wanted some kind of decoration to hang above his crib. I thought about putting a couple of wooden oars on the wall, but I couldn't really find any that I liked which were also in my price range, which was cheap. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a room that would likely be covered in band/car posters and pop stains in ten years. (Let's be honest, my sweet little boy is going to turn into something gross, as all boys do, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.) Then I found a woman on Etsy who would make a flag using martime signal flags to spell out anything you would like. I thought it was such a cute idea! I messaged her and since Zachary's name is a little on the long side, and she was located in the United Kingdom, this project was going to cost me over $100. Ummm......thanks but no thanks.

I knew I couldn't spend that much on decor, but I couldn't get those gosh darn signal flags out of my mind! I loved how each pattern represented a letter or number. I decided I would try to make one myself. I Googled the maritime signal flags and they seemed easy enough; they were mostly stripes and straight lines. So, I bought some white canvas (which the Fabric Lady cut for me while she openly challenged me to a craft-off, though I can't be certain that was her true intention) and made another template out of a cereal box to the size I wanted my flags to be. Then I cut out the flags using my fabulous rotary cutter. I used a thick piece of blue painter's tape at the top of the flag because I was going to fold that part over and sew down when I finished with the painting so that I could string all the flags through rope.

Oh, how I love that rotary cutter.

Next I sewed all around the edges using a straight stitch to keep the canvas from unraveling. I put the presser foot at the edge of the fabric and sewed around the whole flag. I decided not to fold the fabric under and then sew because I thought it would look cool to have some of the canvas fray. Now, I was ready to paint! Oh, how I love to paint. I am not very good at it thought so straight lines were right up my alley! I used my painter's tape so my stripes would be straight. After all, these flags are used in the Navy and they needed to be ship-shape!! Aye-aye, Captain! (Side Note: we have a painting of a sea captain that Troy acquired from an old roommate. He has become part of the family despite the fact that no one in their right mind would willingly use him as a serious piece of decor - except us. I even put a Santa hat on him at Christmastime. Zachary LOVES him. We walk by him multiple times a day and I say "Aye-aye, Captian!" and Z smiles super big. It's awesome.) Anyway, back to the project at hand....

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the letter 'C.'

After I finished all the painting, I held my breath and pulled the tape off. To my surprise, the flags looked great!! There were a few spots where the paint had bled through a loose part of the tape, but I just took a very small paintbrush and fixed it with whatever color it should have been. My last step was to fold the top part over and then sew it down. I realized that I didn't want to sew across the flag because I didn't want to be able to see the stitch line across the top of the flag, so instead I sewed down vertically a few stitches on each side of the flag. Then using cable cord, I strung the flags and tied a knot between each flag. Then I stepped back and admired my work. I thought it looked great! Even better than the one I would have bought for over $100. The hubs helped me hang it in Zachary's room and it looks great!

It was the perfect final touch to our little man's room.

Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y

Umm, this still spells Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y, just a more artsy-fartsy view.

Z loves the flags too! Oh, that face. I just love it.

This was one of my favorite projects. I loved working on each step. Dare I say, I enjoyed it even more than the gold painted macaroni ornament circa 1989. I have already been commissioned to make a nautical banner, which I am excited about! If you are interested in having me make you one, let me know. I realize this seems a little shady, pimping my crafting out, but hey, a girl's gotta eat. 

Pam 2, Fabric Lady 0 . . . . . . . . Bam!

In Your Face Fabric Lady! (Part I - Pennant Bunting)

Welcome back! Thanks for showing up to watch me cream that Fabric Lady from Jo-Ann Fabric with my awesome crafting skills. In case you just tuned in, I mentioned in my last post, Fabric, Glue and Macaroni, that the woman who cuts fabric at a JoAnn Fabric told me that she never (nor knows of anyone who does) tries any of the pins that she finds on Pinterest. So, I am devoting a series of blog posts to show you all that I don't just go and buy materials for crafts and then never follow through like Fabric Lady, which is what she shall be called henceforth because Lame-and-Lazy-Not-Creative-Unwilling-to-Use-All-the-Resources-that-are-at-her-Fingertips-at-Jo-Ann Fabric Lady just seemed a bit too superfluous.

Anywho, Zachary's first birthday is the end of May and I have decided to do a nautical theme which I thought would complement the nautical baby shower my mom and sisters threw for me when I had the bun in the oven. I wanted to make some decorations for the party that could be used again either in Zachary's room, which is also decorated in nautical decor, or as a part of seasonal decorations for the house. I thought I would start with a really sweet fabric pennant bunting project. While at Jo-Ann Fabric, I chose three different fabrics that I thought would look cute together, then I brought them to the Fabric Lady to cut while she openly challenged me to a craft-off (that last part might have only been in my head).

When I got home, I made a template out of cardboard to be the size that I wanted my pennants (which is really just a fancy word for 'triangle') to be for this project. (Side Note: Don't throw away cereal boxes when you are finished with the yummy goodness inside. Cereal boxes make great templates because the cardboard is thick enough to use as a guide but not too thick to cut. Plus Mother Earth will thank you for reusing a resource.) I always flirt with the idea of not doing this next step because I hate it, but I ironed my fabric so the wrinkles from the bolt of fabric wouldn't hinder the cut. I always tell myself to not be so lazy and just iron the darn material, but something about it is just too hard. Next, I used a rotary cutter because it was faster, but if you are following along at home and don't have one, go old school and use scissors. I would like to take the time to mention though, that I have gotten oh so much use out of my rotary cutter and if you are on the fence about getting one, allow me to push you off in the direction of YES!

I love my rotary cutter!

Now, here is where I am going to be brutally honest with you even though it makes me look a little like a boob. I had planned on sewing a straight line all around the edges of the pennants to keep them from fraying; however, I was having a heck of a time making the stitch look nice. It seemed to pull the fabric funny, no matter how much I adjusted the tension on the sewing machine or on the bobbin. Then being the perfectionist I am, if the stitch wasn't absolutely straight, it drove me crazy. Enough was enough; I got out my trusty seam ripper and decided against the stitches. I think the problem was that I only had a one-sided pennant, so I was only sewing through one piece of fabric - I could be totally wrong about that. I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to the seam ripper. Seam Rippers are the best tool for sewing. My mom gave me some advice that I always think about when I sew. One time I was whining to her about not being able to sew something and she told me as long as I had a seam ripper, I could do it. Meaning, you're going to make mistakes - and that is totally okay! Just rip out the seam and start again. (Cue the Full House, "we have fixed all of life's problems" music.)

Going rogue was freeing and I thought that if the fabric did fray, it would look cool, so I decided to jump right to the fun part, pinking. If you haven't heard of pinking shears, they are scissors that leave a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight edge and they are super fun. I had debated buying these fabulous shears because they were in the twenty five dollar range at Jo-Ann Fabric, but then I found a great pair at Michaels for about twelve bucks! Win! I carefully "pinked" around the two longest sides of each of the pennants I cut, leaving the top "un-pinked". That part will get hidden but if you are having a blast with your pinking shears and want to keep going, then don't let me stop you! 

All pinked and ready to go!

Next, I bought double fold bias tape which you can find near the zippers, thread and ric-rac at your fabric store. This kind of bias tape made the next part super easy because there was no folding, ironing or subsequent migraines and/or temper tantrums involved. I slid the top part of the pennant between the folds of the bias tape and then folded the top part of the bias tape down. I pinned each side of the pennant so it would stay snug inside the bias tape. When I went to insert the next pennant into the fold of the bias tape, I made sure that the corners of each pennant where just barely touching. That way, I knew that I would have a uniform look when the bunting was complete. Remember the perfectionist I mentioned earlier? She would hate to look at pennants that were not equidistant.

I even took a picture of the bias tape for you. You're welcome!

All the pennants are pinned and ready to be sewn.

After I pinned all the pennants to the bias tape, I was ready to sew. This was really easy. All I did was sew a straight line. Anyone can do that. Even if you have never used a sewing machine before, you can do it and if you think you can't - just keep your seam ripper in view. I put the presser foot on the edge of the bias tape, closest to the pennants because I wanted to make sure that the thread would be going through all the material. When I finished, I measured the extra bias tape on each end and cut it so the length would be the same on both sides. I sewed down the raw edge so there would be a loop on each end since I am not sure yet how I want to hang this.

The presser foot is right on the edge of the bias tape.

Sewing up the loops on the end.

 After that, I was shocked to realize that I was finished with my project. I was finished before I knew it! I thought the best way to celebrate would be to hang up my work of art, take a few photos of it and revel in my greatness since I won the first of many craft battles against Fabric Lady.

Ta-Da!!

Super cute and super easy!

Pam 1, Fabric Lady 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . Boo-yah!