November Sewing Challenge complete - Christmas Bunting

Inspiration hit in the form of bunting for this sewing challenge, which was to make something for Christmas - I'd read about bunting on a couple of blogs and in a craft book and decided I'd make some too - nothing says 'carnivale' quite like bunting.  And it does look good:

Also it's very easy to make ... this little lot took me just under 2 hours ...

1.  Gather up as much Christmas material as you fancy using.  For my larger bunting I used 4 different fabrics, at a length of 30 cm each.  This bunting was 12 triangles in length (smaller bunting was 7 triangles).

2.  Make a template - I made a triangle 25 cm across the bottom and 25 cm high for the larger bunting, and 15 cm across the bottom and 15 cm high for the smaller bunting.

3.  Cut out 12 triangles in patterned fabric and 12 triangles in calico.

Sew the triangles - if you place pins in the centre of the triangle you stop the fabric slipping and you can sew around the triangle without stopping.  After sewing up all the triangles, turn the right side out and iron carefully.

tip:  trim the ends of the triangles like this to make a flat and fairly pointy point.

4.  Take some bias binding and fold in half, sandwiching triangles in the fold - you will have to trim along the top of your triangle first to get rid of any excess fabric and stray threads.  Start in the middle of your binding and work outwards, in two halves.  I left about 6 cm between the small triangles, and 7 cm between the large triangles.  For the large bunting I used 4 m of binding, but 5 m would give you nice long ends to tie up the bunting, and for the smaller bunting I used 2 m of binding (and 7 triangles), but again add extra length if you want nice long ties!

5.  I tacked the triangles to the bunting; this is the most tedious part of the project, but it is well worth doing as then you can whizz down the whole length of binding with your sewing machine afterwards!  Careful though as the binding sometimes twists round in between the triangles and you don't want twisted bunting!

6.   Hang bunting in a place where it will be noticed and admired!!