Thankful Banner Tutorial
I found a FQ stack at Walmart last month and thought it would make the cutest banner! Not everything needs to be a quilt—although one can never have too many quilts. A vote in my Instagram story helped me decide on the banner shape and I was surprised how quickly it came together. The best part is that the felt and fabric together cost me less than $10.
Just a quick note, the tutorial calls for FQ, but dive into your small scrap pile, too! To make one pendant, you’ll only need two 5x9” pieces. Happy sewing!
Fabric & Tool Requirements
5 FQ (Fat Quarters = 18x22”)
2 9”x12” felt rectangles (I used 2 of these from Walmart)
pen/pencil
sewing machine
thread
rotary cutter & cutting mat (or scissors)
iron
walking foot (optional)
Tutorial
1
Choose four FQ to be the banner and one for the bias tape.
Cut four 5x9 inch rectangles from each of the four FQ. This will yield 16 total rectangles, with four in each fabric. Each rectangle should have an identical pair from the same fabric—one rectangle for the front and one for the back.
2
Cut letters out of felt. Start with 3x5 inch rectangles, draw your letters on the back of the rectangles (reversed), and then cut them out with scissors. I liked the look of uppercase letters and kept the thickness to about 1 inch.
3
Sew letters to the right side (front) of the 5x9 inch rectangles (both positioned veritcally). Sew your letters with a narrow seam allowance, as seen below. Make sure that the letters are positioned about 1 to 1.25 inch from the top of the rectangle.
4
Cut a piece of scrap fabric to use as a stencil for the points of each pendant. Tip: make sure that your stencil leaves enough room (about an inch) between the bottom of your letter and the top of the center point.
Trace the inside of your stencil with a pen or pencil on the wrong side/back of your rectangle (see left photo).
Sew a 1/4” seam around three sides of the rectangle (sewn right sides together), following the line you just traced. Leave the top unsewn (see right photo).
5
Trim the points, making the ends narrower so they can lay flat once turned out.
As seen on the photo on the right, cut small slits in the center “V” of the points so that seam is able to open once turned out. This is important! don’t forget to cut these slits!.
6
Turn each pendant right side out, using the pointy end of scissors or a blunt pencil to carefully push the points all the way out.
Stitch a seam close to the edge for a clean, finished look.
7
Make bias tape out of the remaining fat quarter. There are many great tutorials out there for making bias tape out of a fat quarter, so I won’t go into that here. You can also use a ribbon if you wan’t to skip the work/stress!
8
Measure out 6 feet of bias tape, and lay out your pendants equally spaced and centered along the length of the tape. Decide how close together you’d like them, then pin in place. Starting at one end, close the bias tape with a narrow seam, stitching each pendant in place as you go.
Congratulations on your beautiful new banner! Happy sewing!
