How to Make a Fabric Banner for the 4th of July

I love to decorate my house for the holidays, but I don't like to do too much since it's only usually for a short period of time. This year, for Memorial Day and the 4th of July, I decided to create a fabric banner. The idea came to me because I had a bunch of scrap fabric laying around— it's ticking fabric in red and blue, so it's perfect! This banner doesn't require any sewing and is super easy to make. Basically all we are doing is cutting the fabric and then tying it onto some twine! And the best part is you can customize it to whatever occasion you want.

Materials:

• Fabric of your choice {I'm using ticking fabric in red/white and blue/white that I picked up from a local store, but you should be able to find it at any craft store. As of this post, we do not have any available on our website, unfortunately}
• Rotary Cutter {we have two options: 45MM or 60MM— I have the 60MM, but either will work!}
• Self-Healing Mat
• Cricut Acrylic Ruler
• White Jute
• Scissors

 

Step One: Cut your Fabric

You can cut your fabric to whatever dimensions you want. I cut mine to 18" long and 1" wide. To determine how long you want your fabric to be on your banner, think of a number and then multiply that number by two. We are going to be folding the fabric in half, so if you cut your fabric to be 24" long, then it'll be 12" long on your banner. Or if you cut your fabric to be 18" long, it'll be 9" long hanging on your banner (this is what I did and loved the length!).

To cut your fabric, you can use scissors or a rotary cutter. You just want your strips to be straight, so I think the rotary cutter and a ruler is easiest but sometimes you just have to work with what you have! If you're using a rotary cutter, I highly recommend using a self-healing mat and a ruler to help you cut straight. Here's how it worked for me:

When you're finished cutting your fabric, you may have some frayed pieces. If they bother you, trim those away. I like the look of it being a little more rustic, so I left mine! Totally up to you.

Step Two: Unravel Jute

Now we are going to get our jute ready. I unraveled my jute about 24" from the roll and then left it attached to the roll. This way, if I needed more jute, I could continue to add— so wait to cut until the end! Also, as you can see in the photo above, on the one end of the jute that's not attached to the roll, I applied some washi tape to hold it down. This will come in handy when you are applying the fabric by keeping it in place as you pull the fabric on.

Step Three: Apply your Fabric!

Here's a little graphic of how I applied the fabric and then I'll break down each step. Warning: there's nine images, but don't let that overwhelm you! It's actually simple, I just wanted to explain everything and include more pictures than too few!

1. Fold your fabric in half: Then have the folded part at the top and the unfolded part on the bottom, just like I'm holding it in the picture.
2. Place the folded portion underneath the twine: Place it under the twine and then place the twine on top about one inch or less down from the fold. Side note: you don't need to worry too much about getting it in the right place on the twine at this point because you can move the knots around at the end.
3. Begin the knot: To do this, hold the unfolded pieces together in your right hand at the bottom. Hold the folded portion in your left-hand while it's still under the twine {this portion will be on top}.
4. Open the folded portion and pull the unfolded portion through: Make sure that your twine still stays in place. Pull the "tail", or unfolded portion, completely through the opening you created from the folded portion.
5. Pull the tail all the way through: Remember how I placed washi tape on the one end of the banner? This will really help you in this step! 
6. Pull your tails pretty taught: You'll want to pull the tail taught, so you might have to hold the other end of the twine down while you pull— which is why it's helpful to have the other end in place! 
7. Push down on the knot: You'll want to make sure you have a pretty decent knot on your twine, so you can pull up on your tails and push the knot down to help secure it.
8. Slide your knot to it's location.
9. Flip the fabric to the front and you're all done!

I hope this was helpful for you in learning how to create a fabric banner! Like I said, you're basically just tying knots so it's pretty simple overall— and the more you make the knots, the more you'll get the hang of it. You'll have a smooth rhythm in no time!

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below and I'll follow-up with you via email! Happy making, friends.

-Courteney

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