Last week I published a tutorial showing how to sew fabric bunting banners, either with or without my newest PDF pattern, the Celebrate! Banner. I had a pretty big group of pattern testers to try the pattern out to make sure that everything was ok and to help me fix up anything that needed adjusting.

I cannot get over how fun this testing was and how incredibly creative my testers got with this pattern! So today I’m going to show off some of their work just to get your creative wheels going!

But before that, I want to let you know about the BIGGEST SALE EVENT OF THE YEAR, Cucicucicoo Cyber Week 2018, with discounts up to 40% off for an entire week! Make sure you head on over to the Cucicucicoo Patterns shop and choose all your favorite patterns for amazing deals! But the early bird catches the worm, so get there as soon as possible for the best discounts! Here’s the coupon code schedule:

• 40% off all patterns: Monday, November 19 – Tuesday November 20, 2018 with the code “cyberweek40”
• 30% off all patterns: Wednesday, November 21 – Friday, November 23, 2018 with the code “cyberweek30”
• 20% off all patterns: Saturday, November 24 – Monday, November 26, 2018 with the code “cyberweek20”

The Celebrate! Banner pattern has five shapes of pennant flags, each one in four sizes, along with four sizes of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, symbols and shapes to appliqué to the front of the banner. In addition, the pattern instructions include indications on how to create single layer flags, sewn paper banners without bias tape, or no-sew banners perfect for non-sewists!

I thought that these were already a lot of variations. I didn’t expect at all the other possible variations that my testers came up with! If you like their banners, please click on their names (if they are clickable) to visit their online profiles!

How to sew fabric bunting with variations

Simple Variations

Some of the testers simply used a mixture of shapes and sizes of flags, as Anja did here. Sometimes the fabric is so pretty that it doesn’t need any extra embellishing for a cool bunting!

The Celebrate! Banner pattern shows how to add the letters and other shapes with machine appliqué, but Anja chose to hand sew her appliqued letters in this other banner of hers, creating a more delicate effect. Anja also suggested that the flags can be shortened by folding over or cutting off the tops, if that is better for the look you want.

Of course, you’re not limited to using the appliqué forms included in the pattern. For example, Linda made a Minecraft-themed banner. Another variation that she made was to simply glue felt letters on a single-layered banner, rather than using appliqué, and using a pretty decorative stitch to close up the bias tape.

More than one tester made reversible banners, which is a great way to get two looks out of just one banner! I really loved Susan‘s idea to make each side of one banner a different holiday celebration! One side is for Thanksgiving, and the other for Christmas! Susan suggests using interfacing between the two layers for this type of double-sided variation so that the back side doesn’t show through to the front. Great idea!

Alessia also sewed a reversible Celebrate! Banner. It doesn’t have letters, but showcases repurposed fabrics and, instead of using regular bias tape, she strung the pennants together with a long strip cut from an old T-shirt! Great idea! Now I want for her to show us how she made that amazing sofa cover from reclaimed jeans! Is that not gorgeous?!

No-Sew Banners

I was surprised at how many of my sewing testers created no-sew Celebrate! Banners! The pattern instructions explain how to modify the flag patterns in order to cut them out of paper and glue them in half with string or ribbon running through them.

Here is Megan‘s no-sew banner, which she made to match this amazing unicorn paper sculpture that she assembled and hung in her daughter’s room. Isn’t that perfect for a girl dreaming of colorful rainbows, unicorns and fantastic worlds?!

Linda took advantage of this super child-friendly variation of the Celebrate! Banner pattern and included children in making it! She cut up their artwork and let them draw on the cut-up flags. If I were the girls who made these banners, I would be so proud to hang them in my room!

Francesca made one no-sew banner wishing “Buon Natale” (that’s Merry Christmas in Italian), then modified the technique for a fabric name banner. By leaving an open space at the top of each pennant, they can be switched out for other ones. A very interesting and useful idea! Notice she also hand sewed the name applique with contrast thread, creating a pretty decorative effect.

Another one of my Italian testers, Chiara, made a celebratory banner (“Tanti Auguri” can be used for wishing a happy birthday or happy any other holiday or special occasion) from a material that had never crossed my mind: crafting foam!

Chiara came up with a really good trick: use the tip of a pen that has run out of ink to trace out the pattern on the foam, scratching out the shape without risking getting ink on the foam. She then glued the leters on and glued wide ribbon over the top edges to hang her banners with.

Jennifer sewed some hybrid banners. On the right you can see her paper banner with ribbon sewn across the top. This banner ended up as a decoration at her craft fair stand! When she sewed a fabric banner, seen on the left, she decided to use a cutting machine with glitter heat-transfer vinyl with a different font for her letters. It’s a gorgeous effect!

Alternatives to bias tape

Cecilia is a beginner sewist and wasn’t sure if she would be able to complete this project. Her hashtag banner, expressing her surprise when she was able to sew a banner, made me laugh out loud! Instead of attempting bias tape, she simply sewed the banners together with ribbon.

Glenda made quite a few banners for this testing, but the one I love the most is this reversible birthday banner to celebrate her mother. The flags and letters are all made of scrapbook paper glued together, but she had the fantastic idea of adding two eyelets to each banner and stringing them together without any sewing, glue, or tape! This possibility never had occurred to me and it looks great!

The same Megan as the “Imagine” banner before had some other really great ideas for substituting bias tape. In this “Stay Wild” banner, she used glitter ribbon instead of bias tape. I love how she mixed fabrics, and even added the heart appliqué shape in a larger size in the center, directly on top of the ribbon. And again, I find visible hand stitching with a running stitch around the appliqué letters very pretty!

Megan‘s third banner was also really creative; she used pompom trim instead of bias tape! How cute is that?!

Embellished bias tape

Two of my testers embellished their bias tape with cotton eyelet lace, and the effect is just stunning! Chris took pictures of how she first sewed the lace to the bias tape, then applied the embellished bias tape to the pennants. I love that Chris repurposed old duvet covers and sheets for her banners!

Pockets and snaps

Once again, I was stunned when two testers had the same amazing idea that had never occurred to me: create a countdown banner by adding pockets to the pennants! This pattern is named the “Celebrate! Banner”, and you can’t get much more celebratory that this!

Daniela turned one of her banners into an advent calendar. What a stroke of genius!

She created a pocket for every flag, on which she first painted a number, using the pattern’s appliqué shapes, but without actually doing appliqué. (Great idea for saving time!) She then sewed together the flags with wide ribbon. What a cute idea!

Her other banner was less labor intensive, with no-sew flags made from paper, seen above in the bottom picture. She used double-stick tape to attach the letters and, instead of bias tape, ribbon, or string, she sandwiched the flags between two long pieces of washi tape! Another possibility that had never occurred to me!

Jana also had the idea to make a countdown banner to Thanksgiving, to be used as a “Thankful Challenge”. I love that idea! The pockets are hidden on the back so that they don’t need to be used if not necessary.

The other very creative idea Jana had was to make a banner with snap-on pennants! This way the flags can be taken off and switched around as desired, making it possible to change look continuously. Wow!

 

This is only a sample of the gorgeous and creative work that my testers made with the Celebrate! Banner. It just goes to show that, once you know how to sew fabric bunting, or even make non-fabric bunting, you can let your creativity take over and there is no end to what you can create!

Again, don’t forget to take advantage of the incredible savings of Cucicucicoo Cyber Week 2018, with discounts up to 40% off from November 19-26, 2018. But don’t wait til the end, because the best discount is right at the beginning of the week! So choose your favorite designs at the Cucicucicoo Patterns shop and use the coupon code for that day, as specified at the beginning of this post.

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