How to make your own bunting

Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial

How To Make Your Own Bunting

 

In need of a christening present, I thought what better way to celebrate
the official naming of a baby than with personalised bunting. This is a
lovely project that can be made as quick or as complicated as you like.

What you will need for bunting with 6 flags (increase quantities for
more):
Enough fabric for 12 triangles 20cmx20cm (I used 3 different fat
quarters for pattern variety)
2 meters bias binding
Optional - fabric scraps for appliqued letters or shapes, anything else
to decorate e.g. buttons, ric rac, ribbons etc.

How to make it:
First cut a square 20cmx20cm then fold in half. Cut diagonally from the
centre to the bottom corner, then unfold and you have your triangle
shape.

To save time, I folded my fabric and cut 2 at once, as well as a third
triangle by extending the cut to the folded fabric edge (you can only do
this if you fabric can be used upside down). You will need 2 triangles
per flag.

Keeping in mind that you will loose 1/4 inch all around the triangle,
you will want to design any decorations or embellishments and attach
them before making up the bunting.

There are 2 easy ways of getting lettering all the same size. Either cut
squares of paper out then draw your letters to touch the edges, or just
type it on the computer in a large bold font and print it out.

To attach your letters or shapes, simply select a close stitch length
and zig zag around to seal in the edges and fix down. You may wish to
use temporary fabric glue to help keep it in place, and if it's a
particularly complex shape, you might want to use greaseproof paper or a 
temporary stabiliser to get a more professional finish.

When going around shapes, you will get a better finish if you frequently stop in the 'outer' position of the zig zag, with needle still in the fabric, lift the presser foot and rotate the fabric before lowering the foot to resume.

Add buttons or ric rac or ribbons to decorate if you like to add a little more individual flare.

Line up 1 decorated with one plain triangle (unless you are making double sided bunting!) right sides together. Sew down the 2 diagonal edges leaving the top free with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

 

  

Snip the corner of the triangle so it lays flatter and creates a sharper point once turned right side out.

Turn right side out and press flat. You will have little bits that stick out the top from the seams. Trim these down to the same level as the top.

I prefer to attach bias binding to bunting by hand rather than using a bias attachment to my sewing machine simply because I find it easier to get the spacing right by pinning it all first. I used an over-edge foot with the needle in a left position to avoid the centre bar, as a 1/8th inch guide then top stitched all along the bias to fix the bunting. I then turned it around to use the guide on the opposite side and used a zigzag stitch to secure it firmly just in case the child managed to get a hold of it, I wanted it to be sturdy.

To finish the edges of the binding, I simply folded the corners in to make a point before folding over to sew.

Then your bunting is ready to be hung up!

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk
Happy Sewing!

Don't forget to check out our webpage www.sewingbeefabrics.co.uk for lots more free tutorials, guides, tips and tricks.

Make your own ruffled skirt

Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial

How To Make A Ruffled Skirt From Old Shirts

When my husband decided he had finished with 2 matching shirts, I thought it would be wrong not to keep them together, so with a little bit of patterned  fabric, this skirt was created.

What you will need
2 long sleeve shirts ( the body of the shirt needs to easily fit over
your hips)
Contrasting fabric (mine was approx. 110cm x 50cm)
Enough wide elastic to comfortably fit around your waist.
A lot of matching thread

How to make it:
First, make the under skirt by cutting straight across one shirt just underneath the armpits. Then, remove the thickened fabric with the buttons and buttonholes, being sure to stash the buttons for another project! If the shirt is giant compared to your hips, you will probably want to trim the edge more so it fits over your hips with a couple of inches to spare.

Hem the top and bottom.

Now for the ruffles! You want 4 pieces that are approximately 10cm wide, and the length 1 1/2 times the width of your under skirt from the remaining shirt fabric. You will also want one the same size from your patterned fabric. You will also want one other piece from the patterned material the same width but the length only needs be as long as your under skirt is wide.

Hem top and bottom of each long side on the 5 long strips, but only the bottom needs hemming on the shorter patterned piece.

Pass each through the ruffler  foot on the sewing machine. I used the deepest pleat setting on every 12th stitch with an average stitch length. To make this skirt without a ruffler foot, you can sew a long stitch length then gently pull the tread ends to gather the fabric to the desired amount. Be careful though as pulling too hard can make the thread snap.

Now here comes the fun part - piecing it all together. Start with the shorter piece. Place it right side facing your main section and sew a seam right along the top.

Flip the patterned piece over and top stitch along the top edge. I used an over-edge sewing machine foot as my guide to sew the top stitch at 1/8th inch distance.

Now using a temporary fabric marker, draw yourself lines about every 7-8cm. There needs to be a slight overlap of ruffles.

Line each ruffled strip up with a line and sew in place.

Now take a piece of elastic and try it around your waist. Cut to the desired length and line up centrally underneath the top patterned piece.

Pin in place centrally, then gently stretch and pin in place on each side so the ends of the elastic reach the ends of the fabric.

Sew the elastic in place top and bottom using a 3 step zig zag stitch while keeping the stretch on the elastic (standard zig zag is less able to move with the elastic).

Fold the patterned piece back over and sew a running stitch under the elastic line to form a casing for the elastic. In retrospect, I should also have sewn another line of running stitch to hold the top piece covering the top ruffle seam as this has a tendency of getting folded up on wearing.


Fold the skirt in half with ruffles facing inwards and pin the side seam.

Trim away any excess down the side then sew your side seam and overstitch the edge to prevent fraying.

Turn it the other way around and look pleased with yourself!

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk

 

How to use a Ruffler Sewing Machine Foot

Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial

How To Use A Ruffler Sewing Machine Foot

Many people are scared off from using the ruffler foot because it looks much more intimidating than clip on sewing machine feet, but let me assure you,  not only is it easy to use, but it's great fun! You can buy them from HERE

To attach it to the machine, you will need to remove not just your standard foot, but also the part it clips to so you are just left with the pole. You will need to unscrew the current foot to remove it. The bottom claw like part slides around the pole, and the upper part on the ruffler that looks like a lobster claw attaches around the part you would unscrew to change needles. This lets the ruffler foot 'count' your stitches allowing you to set pleats/ruffles at different intervals.

From the other side:

Line the screw hole up and use your screw driver to secure the ruffler in place.

This is a really adjustable foot, so your likely to want some scrap fabric to pay with before going straight onto your project. You have 2 dials. On the top setting facing you are these options - *, 1, 6, 12.

* = Straight running stitch as if you have no fancy foot attached
1 = Every stitch is a ruffle
6 = Every 6th stitch is a ruffle
12 = Every 12th stitch is a ruffle.

Don't forget your stitch length with affect how far apart your ruffles will be too.

The other dial is for adjusting the depth of the ruffle. This allows you to make anything from a slight ruffle to a pleat. I find that in general, the narrower the piece of fabric, the smaller the pleat depth I
prefer. However on wider strips of fabric the small depth ruffle can look a little lost, so you would need to plan how to use it best for example it would however look good for a subtle wave on a skirt but not so much for a decorative edge.

To make a ruffle to add to your project, take a strip of fabric. If your fabric is prone to fraying, you will find it much easier to hem before ruffling (either hemmed top and bottom or folded along the long edge and the raw edge hemmed at the top or bound with bias binding). The length you need will vary depending on the settings you choose, but on average you will need 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 times the length you want to fill. You might want to measure a small piece to pass through then measure the resulting ruffled piece to find out what percentage you loose.

Pass the fabric through the ruffler foot being careful not to snag any dedicate fabrics on the serrated edge. You may find it helps to pull it through diagonally or wider than desired then adjust it.

You may need to gently lift the serrated part to position your fabric more easily but be careful not to force it. You can very gently use your sewing machine screw driver. You are only looking to lift the tip away from the material edge and no higher.

Make sure the edge of the fabric is just passed the needle as you would with any other foot, then your ready to start sewing.

Begin sewing with your desired settings! Watch your fingers as you need to keep in mind every ruffle will involve the foot suddenly pulling through extra fabric. You can see how the part with the serrated edge moves forwards and pushes the fabric forwards under the foot to create the ruffle.

This gives you an example of how different your fabric can turn out just by changing the ruffle depth - everything from a light ripple to a heavy pleat.

And this gives you an idea of how different it can come out depending on how often you ruffle - and how that can vary even more just by changing the stitch length. So I really can't say enough - experiment first then go for it!

Now here's the bit where this foot gets really clever! You can ruffle and sew onto flat fabric at the same time! Simply set the foot up as before ready to ruffle, but this time, put the piece of fabric you want to attach it to underneath the entire foot.

The ruffler will pull the top section through as the feed dogs pull the bottom through letting you fix your ruffles directly to your fabric. Just be careful how many layers or how thick a fabric you use. I would recommend having a practice first. I would also go at a slow speed otherwise the force of
the ruffler pulling the top fabric through can pull it out of alignment with the bottom fabric.

Then all you need to do is decide which project needs ruffling next!

 

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk