My sister is a talented seamstress who made a beautiful, gorgeously sewn pennant for her first son’s bedroom. When I commented on wanting to make one for my son’s newly decorated bedroom she gave me some sage advice: “don’t sew it all!” What I realized after making one is that you don’t really need to sew at all.

Pennant with ball fringe
My son’s new pennant. More on his room to come in the future. I’m still finishing up some details.

Below are instructions for how to make a lovely, and very easy pennant for you child’s room. Disclaimer: I did sew the flags onto the ball fringe since I have a sewing machine, but you needn’t. Unless you are planning to let your child swing from it, it should be strong enough with hot glue or zot dots.

No-Sew DIY Pennant

Supplies list: fabric, pinking shears, ball fringe or ribbon, hot glue gun or zot dots, pins, cardstock, tacks

1.) Pick fabrics that go with your colour scheme (see “Colour Schemes 101: I can sing a rainbow“). You need about 1/4 yard of fabric to get enough width for your flags. If you want to use lots of different fabrics you can go on fabric.com and order samples for $1.75 each. The sample size is just right for individual flags.

2.) Cut out a template for the flags. Cardstock works well for a template as it is thicker and firmer than regular paper. The shape you choose depends on your preference. Some people make wider, shorter flags and some people make longer, skinnier ones.  Cut out a few templates and decide what you prefer.

3.) On a firm surface pin your template to the fabric. Use pinking shears to cut out the fabric; the zig-zag edge will help the fabric to not fray.

4.) Cut ribbon or ball fringe to desired length. Measure twice, cut once.

5.) Place ribbon on the table with the right side down  (the side you want to see) . Pin the right side of the fabric (the one with the pattern on it) to the wrong side (the back side, the side you don’t want to see) of the ribbon. Take care that the fabric does not come up over the top edge of the ribbon. Pin the triangles on like this at equal distances. I think about two inches between flags looks nice but it is personal preference.

6.) If you do not want to sew, an alternative is to use a hot glue gun to attach the flags to the ribbon. If the ribbon is quite thin, or you decide to use ball fringe, zot dots will work better. Use the zot dots liberally for the best adhesion.

7.) Voila! You are done. Attach it to desired wall using tacks.

pennant with ball fringe
Voila!

If DIY isn’t your thing but you like the look, there are plenty of stores on etsy where you can buy pennants for fairly reasonable prices.

Please let me know if you are unclear on any of the instructions and I will do my best to help you.

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Mila

Mon Jul 22 , 2013
The best designs aren’t created by interior designers.

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