Last week I showed you some simple map bunting that I made, and as promised, here is the tutorial. To make the bunting, you will need:
- A map that you don’t mind cutting up (mine was an old world map poster)
- Jute twine
- Ruler, pencil etc
- Contrast paper
- Blue tack
- Sewing machine and general sewing supplies such as thread
Start by deciding how big you want your bunting flags to be – it’s completely up to you. I made mine 10 cm (4″) wide at the top and 13 cm (5 1/8) long to the tip of each flag. On the back of your map, use a ruler to draw as many triangles as you need. As you can see, the triangles fit together so none of the map is wasted.
Cut them out and then make sure that your sewing machine is threaded and adjust the stitch length so it’s slightly longer than usual. To make the bunting, simply hold the twine on top of a flag a few millimetres (1/8″) away from the top edge, leaving a long tail of twine before you start sewing. Slowly sew through the twine and paper. When you get to the end of the flag, keep sewing along the twine, leaving a small gap, then place another flag underneath the twine and keep sewing until you’ve sewn as many flags as you like, leaving another tail of twine on the other end.
I made three shorter lengths because I wanted to display them in rows on a small wall, but I can always tie them together to create one long string of bunting later on. Whenever you use your sewing machine to sew through paper, like for this project, remember to put a new needle in your machine once you’ve finished, as sewing through paper tends to make the needle go blunt. The bunting is pretty much finished now and can be used as is, or you can cut out letters to personalise it with a message, like I did for my brother. I just drew letters free hand on some black paper, but if you’re not confident doing that, you could type your message in a bold font on a computer and print it out to use as a template for the letters. Use blue tack to attach the letters to the bunting, that way they can be removed and the bunting can be re-used for other occasions. To display your bunting you can either use the tails of twine to tie it up, or just use a piece of blue tack in the corner of the first and last flags to stick it to a wall. As well as being used as a birthday decoration, this type of bunting could also brighten up a child’s room or would be a perfect decoration for a farewell party for a travelling friend!
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Brilliant, such a good idea.
Thank you I am addicted to bunting and this will bring some life to a huge blank wall until I can afford a big enough artwork