How to make bunting with a geo twist
Bring traditional bunting bang up to date with these geo flags by Clare Youngs. This geo bunting is bright, fun and the perfect summer scrap-busting project to use up even the teeniest of fabric off-cuts that you just can’t bear to throw away in case you need them ‘one day’. We’ll show you everything you need to know to learn how to make bunting with this step-by-step tutorial.
You will need
* Fourteen plain fabrics and fourteen patterned fabrics, each at least 16cm square
* Bias binding 4m for hanging bunting (ready-made 2cm/¾in wide linen was used)
* Quilter’s quarter (not essential but useful)
Finished size
14cm deep x 4m long approx
Cutting out
Step one Draw out a 16cm square on a thick piece of card and cut it out. Use this template and a rotary cutter to cut out fourteen 16cm squares of plain fabric and fourteen 16cm squares of patterned fabric (Fig 1).
Making half-square triangles
Step two With right sides together place one plain square and one patterned square together. Using a pencil or air-erasable pen and ruler, draw a diagonal line from one corner of the square to the opposite corner (Fig 2). Draw two more lines, each one parallel and ¼in (6mm) away from either side of the central line. Use a quilter’s quarter rule for this or measure it with a ruler.
Step three Sew along each of the lines next to the central line. Use a rotary cutter or scissors to cut through the two pieces of fabric along the central line (Fig 3). This will give you two Half-Square Triangle units (square units each made up of two triangles).
Step four Press the seam of the half-square triangle units towards the darker triangle (Fig 4). Trim off the dog ears (the little bit of fabric sticking out at the end of the seam) and square up. Repeat steps 2–4 to make half-square triangle units from all of your remaining squares of fabric.
Sewing the flags
Step five Lay out all the units to see which way round and in what order you would like to place them and then pair them up. Put each pair right sides together, with edges aligned and a pin on the three sides to be sewn ╨ the top of each flag is left open (Fig 5).
Step six Taking one pair at a time and using a ¼in (6mm) seam, sew all around the three sides (Fig 6). Trim across the two sewn corners, turn right way out and press. Repeat with all of the flags.
Sewing the flags to the binding
Step seven Place a flag on the table. Open out the bias binding and with right sides together pin the binding to the top of the square, aligning the two raw edges (Fig 7). Start the first square 45cm along the binding.
Step eight Pin the remaining flags to the binding, spacing them at about 10cm intervals (Fig 8). Now sew a seam along the crease of the binding to secure the flags to the binding.
Step nine To finish, fold the bias binding in half and over the top of the squares. Pin in place and then sew a seam all along, 2mm up from the bottom edge of the binding to secure all the flags (Fig 9).
Your bunting is finished and ready to make over gardens, parties, living rooms and just about anything you want it to!
Top tip
It’s quicker to carry on sewing along the crease of the binding in the space between the flags (even though you’re not attaching anything), than to sew each of the flags in place individually.