Birthday Banner Tutorial

You know those cheap “Happy Birthday” banners? You know the ones They are made of paper and each letter is connected to one other with a brad? And they rip and tear as you take them out of the little plastic wrapping and you have to tape them before you even have the chance to hang them up?

Yeah. I’m through with those.

I saw an adorable idea here and just had to make one for myself!

Here’s how I did it:

I bought a bunch of fat quarters, twelve to be exact. (5 girly prints, 7 manly-ish ones) I really could have done it with fewer, but I wanted to have more of a variety of fabric.

Then I cut a pattern… or template. Whatever you want to call it. I just folded a piece of plain white paper in half lengthwise. Then I used a straight edge and drew a line from the upper edge to the fold.

Then I cut it and unfolded it and I had myself a pattern!

I then went to work cutting out triangles. I think I cut 28 out of the boy colors and 18 out of the girl colors.

I then went to my computer and found a font I liked. I enlarged it and printed out all the letters I would need. The font I used was Elephants in Cherry Trees which you can download for FREE here. Then I went to work. I traced them onto brown felt and cut out each letter. It really took about 2 hours, but it seemed like forever!

Then I used a roll of Heat and Bond and secured those bad boys on each triangle. The felt did really well. I only melted one piece when the iron got too hot!

Then I used my sewing machine and stitched around each letter. I just used a quick running stitch, nothing fancy. Then I matched each triangle with a back. I made it reversible, see, so it can be blue for a boy birthday and then pink for a girl birthday. (Seeing as I am currently the only female in the house, I get the pink side all to myself!) Anyway, to make it reversible, I matched the blue H with the pink Y, the blue A with the pink P, and so forth. I then, with right sides together, sewed the two side seams and left the top open.

Then I turned them all and pressed the crap out of them! I didn’t topstitch the edges or anything, although I think it might look nice as well.

Then I opened up some double fold bias tape and stitched the length, making sure to get each open end enclosed.

Tada! I love how it turned out! There is a banner for each family member, and I also have enough matching fabric leftover that when we add more babies, I can make more banners! Hopefully someday I’ll be able to share the pink side! :)

I’ve probably spent more on those lame banners in my lifetime than I spent making this one! And it’s gonna last a LONG time!!!

Thanks to See Mommy Sew for the fabulous idea! Ian’s birthday is gonna ROCK!!