Domestic Deficit Disorder: Scalloped Bunting Tutorial

I did mine for the 4th of July, but of course you can make a scalloped bunting for any occasion depending on the fabrics you use. They make lovely every day decorations as well, especially in kids rooms, or in craft rooms, etc. The pics below have some text.. that is basic directions in case you can pretty much figure this one out yourself. If not I will explain a bit of detail as well.

So the first thing you are going to do is to pick out your fabrics... the number does not matter...the more you have the less repetition you will have, the less you have the more repetition you will have, so it is just a matter of choice :)Also pick a matching bias tape. Double fold would be ideal. I chose single fold because it is denim and I want it to fray and get a little shabby.

Once you have them, figure out the size circle you want...also, purely a matter of choice. I used a candle lid to trace. Trace the circle on the wrong side of the fabric... I used a sharpie, because honey badger don't care! Just cut it out just inside the circle if you need to. This step, btw ... the cutting out phase, will take about 9 bazillion years, so watch a movie or some tv or something while you do it! I was making three 9 feet long ones though, so if you make less it will be shorter.

Once you have all your circles cut out, just arrange them in the order you want them to be in, if you care. You can do it completely random but that makes me insane so I plan instead! I also ended up removing that fabric with the stripes and stars... once I started making scallops the stripes were all wonky and it looked awful.

Next you are going to fold your circles in half, right sides together and iron them together. Then you are going to sew along the open half circle edge from one side to the other... creating a complete closed half circle. When you are done, trim all your threads, etc and then simply cut the very tippy edge of each flat side off. Turn them inside out, poking out all the seams and ironing flat into half circles, aka scallops.

You are going to start sewing by sewing your bias tape together. Again I have raw edges here because I want the denim to fray a bit. If you use double fold bias tape you will have a nice clean edge to sew together. I sewed about a foot in and then started adding scallops.

When you add a scallop, you are going to lift the bias tape open, slide in the scallop and then simply hold the bias tape back down and sew across. *** big thing I learned... lift quickly and just check the under side to be sure the scallop is inside the bias tape the whole way. lol When I was done with number one I had missed one and had to go back and fix it... the second bunting I missed three... needless to say I started checking on the third and that one went smoothly. Now I know lol.

Then you just keep on trucking til you are satisfied with the length. When I was finished I ended up trimming both to match and I think I went around 7 inches or so of extra denim at each end instead of the original 12. I felt that was just too much hanging for my taste.

Once you have the ends trimmed, you are going to sew vertically across the ends and back stitch so they are closed and secure and will not fray open and fall apart on you.

Then...hang, show off, enjoy :) They are easy and I really love the repetitive process involved in making buntings. They can be a nice cathartic craft when you want to relax and zone out and just do your thing.

I am pretty sure I am going to keep mine up in my nook and add some Americana decor around it and keep the theme. It has always been one of my favorites. What can I make next to go along with it? Any ideas?