Fabric Banner Tutorial

Yesterday, I posted the lyrics to the beautiful song "He Lives" with a very brief and admittedly inadequate description of how that song has affected me this Easter season. It got me thinking that I would like to have some more meaningful Easter decorations in my home. I decided to make a fabric banner with those words - HE LIVES - to put up in our living room.

There are dozens and dozens of fabric banner tutorials all over the internet. I checked some out but then decided to make it up as I went along. Money has been a little tight around here; so I was determined to make the banner without having to purchase any new materials. Fortunately, I have boxes of designer fabrics left over from the French memo boards I used to make for my etsy shop.

So here's how I made the banner:

First, I made a paper pattern for my fabric triangles. I folded a piece of paper in half and then cut a diagonal to the size triangle I wanted.

Then I opened the triangle up and laid it on my fabric. I traced two triangles on each fabric that I was using and cut them out.

I chose to use a different fabric for each pennant on my banner since I had so many coordinating fabrics, but it would be really pretty to just choose two fabrics and alternate them.

Next, I took two matching pieces of fabric and placed them back to back. Using my sewing machine, I stitched down one side and up the other, leaving the top open. I did this for each set of fabric triangles.

I used a small pair of sharp scissors to trim off all the excess fabric on each pennant.

I turned each pennant right side out, using a skewer to make sure the point of the triangle was completely turned out.

Then, I ironed all the pennants to make the seams and creases sharp.

I found a pretty pale blue ribbon that had been wrapped around a gift I received and folded it in half length-wise, ironing it so that it would stay folded and creased. I then arranged my pennants along the inside fold of the ribbon and pinned them in place. (note my ghetto safety pins - I could not locate my sewing pins and had to make do with these!)

It was very quick to sew a quick seam along the ribbon to attach the pennants to the ribbon. (A glue gun would work well here too!)

For my letters, I just used my Sizzix die cutter to punch out black felt letters. It would be pretty easy to make the letters using any stencil or even hand-lettering with fabric paint. I used my hot glue gun to adhere the letters to the pennants.

It took two scrap pieces of black ribbon and a step ladder to get this banner hung front and center in the living room. I love it! It makes a great Easter decoration, although I will probably keep it up for a while afterwards. I love the message and the colors.

What have you done to decorate for Easter?