Pennant Banners - How To

I just made these pennant banners for the girls' room and I love them!

I used them on the curtains, but they'd look great hanging across the ceiling, along a wall, or trimming a piece of furniture.  They're so fun and can be made with any scrap material (or paper!) you have lying around.  And they're growing in popularity - I see them everywhere!  So join the fun and make some of your own for a party, a holiday, or everyday decor.  Here's how:

Assemble your fabric. You'll need at least 9 inches x 2 feet of fabric for mine.  I like to mix up the fabrics - different colors, some solids, some various patterns.  Then iron them all out, nice & pretty!  Helpful tip:  I've found the better ironing job you do, the easier the sewing will be!  And I'm still a little intimidated by sewing -  I'd rather use any other power tool than my sewing machine. So ironing is my friend.

Make a pattern. Whatever size you want, its up to you.  I drew out a long triangle on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of card stock (about the biggest that could fit). Card stock is ideal for the next steps! Then I made a second one.  I taped their ends together - making a diamond shape.  This way the fabric will fold in half at the top, to make a double-sided triangle.

Cut fabric.  Cut your fabric 1/2 an inch larger than your diamond pattern - for your seam allowance.

Iron seams. You will iron your fabric around your card stock pattern.  I put my pattern on the fabric, folded the 1/2 inch allowance over and ironed well.  Then take out your pattern and press the seams again.  Pin the bottom tips to keep them nice and pointy.

Fold & pin two sides together.  Since the top of your triangle is folded over, you only have to sew the two angled sides.  

Sew two sides together.  But leave about a half inch near your top fold unsewn - this is where your twine will thread through.

Arrange pennants.  Now is the fun part, play with the different triangles until you are happy with the arrangement of your pennants and the length of your banner.  I ended up removing a few pennants (which I'm sure I'll use someday!) so that my banner wasn't too long for the curtains.

Thread pennants together.  I used twine (taped to a long chop stick!), but string, rope, ribbon or fabric would work too.  I didn't need to sew the pennants to the string.  I like the look of the triangles end to end, and they didn't move or slide once in place.  If you space or swag yours more, you may need to secure the pennants in place.

Hang those beautiful Pennant Banners proudly!  You will be in love with them!  I love mine.  I made similar ones with bandanas for my daughters' cowgirl birthday party last year, and that's when I was hooked.  Now I'm fighting the urge to put them in the other kids' room!