Bunting is one of the most time honoured ways to decorate, whether it be a play area, party or picnic. But making it from scratch can be very fiddly and time consuming. The good news is, if you can:
– cut triangles
and
– sew in a straight line
then you can make this cheap, simple and beautiful bunting! All for a fraction of the time and cost that comes with traditional double sided methods. Plus, the beautifully textured natural fibres and colours look simply gorgeous outdoors, especially with the sun shining through.
DIY
For a start to finish tutorial, here’s how it’s done.
Materials
– Hessian/burlap is generally quite cheap and sold off VERY wide bolts, meaning you won’t need much in cm’s to make lots and lots of triangles. If you can get your hands on some recycled sacks, even better!
– The binding used around the triangle edges is also very cheap, but you will need a fair bit. The triangles in the video used under 25cm each side meaning around 0.5 metres (20 inches) of binding per triangle. At 80 cents per metre this was still good value, but make sure you buy enough.
– I chose a decorative ribbon for my bunting which the most expensive item used in the whole project. By switching to a wide bias binding (or recycled ribbon/fabric) for the rope section you will dramatically cut costs.
– Triangles were approx 20cm (8 inches) across the top and gaps between them were approx 9cm (3.5 inches) Leave at least 30cm (12 inches) minimum at each end to tie.
Measurements
So, to calculate your supplies, decide how many metres of bunting and how many sections, if you want two or more separate pieces.
For each section calculate:
Desired length (cm) divided by 29 (cm) = how many triangles you will need.
# of triangles x 50cm = bias tape length for edges.
Desired length + (2 x tie up length) = ribbon length.
We hope you found this helpful and would LOVE to see your bunting creations. They are a lovely personal touch to any space, indoors or out. (But we love them in trees).
Happy sewing!
littlebutonce.com 