Garden Party Pennants

These pennants are a wonderful way to decorate a back yard BBQ, wedding or baby shower, or of course, a garden party. You can use vintage fabrics in any pattern, old shirts from the thrift store, or new fabrics from the craft store. Try using a mix of solid fabrics and printed fabrics for a nice contrast. I like choosing 4 to 5 colors to focus on as a theme. This is a quick, easy project that will spice up your back yard in no time!

What You'll Need:

1 yard each of 4 to 5 different fabrics

2 spools of 1" wide grosgrain ribbon in any color

needle and thread or sewing machine

scissors

Pen and Paper

Ruler or measuring tape

1. Lets start by making a pattern. Start by folding a piece of computer paper in half, lengthwise. Starting from the folded side, along the top edge, measure out 3 inches. Make a mark.
2. Next, starting from the top of the paper along the folded edge, measure 9 inches and make a mark. Draw a straight line between the two marks you made on your paper.
3. Keeping the paper folded, cut along the line you just drew. When you unfold your paper, you should have a perfect triangle.
4. Next, it's time to trace. Lay out your fabric, right side down. Using your pen, trace the pennant pattern onto the fabric multiple times until you have no free space left. Make sure you have an even number.
5. Cut out each triangle.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with each fabric.
7. Next it is time to make the pennants. These pennants will be double sided. You can choose the same fabric for front and back, or you can mix and match your fabrics. Choose two triangles and face them wrong side to wrong side so that the right side of each fabric is facing out.
8. Using your sewing machine or needle and thread, sew along the diagonal edges of each pennant. Continue this step until you have no more triangles left.
9. Now it is time to attach them to the ribbon. You can choose to pin the pennants to the ribbon beforehand, or you can eye-ball it. I prefer the latter. Be sure to leave at least 4" at the end of the ribbon before you attach your first pennant so you have a way to hang the pennants.
10. Fold the ribbon in half so it forms a ½" line and insert each pennant into the fold, about 3" to 4" apart from one another. Sew each pennant to the line to secure.
11. To hang, tie each edge of the ribbon to a branch, limb, or pole.

There you have it! A whimsical and easy way to decorate for any festive occasion.