S U P P L I E S

Kits to make a banner - there are two.  The colors you see in the first example that spell "believe" are the ones in the pastels kit and the "imagine" sample is the brights.  If you want to use your own colors you'll need about 1 sheet of 12" x 18" wool felt per pennant, plus some batik fabric for the letters, Color Variations #5 perle cotton, and Corde Twist.

Patterns - the templates for the pennants themselves and letters which spell out "believe" and "imagine".  Click here to download the patterns.  You'll notice that the pennants are different shapes and sizes each have one or two letters marked in UPPERcase letters that are underlined.  That signifies which position the pennant has in the word.  The letters have the words believe and/or imagine spelled on them, again with one in UPPERcase and underlined.  That will tell you which word and where in the word that particular letter is for. 

I actually made the believe banner last summer (2010), but never did anything with it.  I was moving things around in my studio recently when I uncovered it and decided now was a good time to complete it.  Then the word imagine popped into my head and the next banner was born.  As artists we tend to use these words a lot, so creating a banner that spells out those sentiments, which encourage and sustain us, and can be displayed in a prominent place to remind us to persevere, is a good thing.  At least in my book!

The first banner has plain pennants, with just the letters stitched on and the Corde Twist couched along the top.  When the Color Variations #5 perle cotton arrived I was mentally searching for something to do with them.  I love the colors and the way they change along the length of the fiber.  The I uncovered the believe banner and things clicked into place to combine the Color Variations with felt and make another banner.

The believe banner used some print fabric for the letters that, while pretty, doesn't provide enough contrast against the felt pennants.  Up close it's fine, but when the banner is on the wall and is viewed from a few feet away the lack of contrast is more obvious.  I made sure to choose batiks with a stronger contrast when I made the imagine banner and when I paired fabrics for the kits.  The results are much better.

It was such a nice day that I decided to photograph the banner outside.  I draped it over the patio furniture and snapped a photo!

Better contrast this time around!

Make a loop and tie a knot to create a hanging loop.  Repeat at the other end, hang, and enjoy!

When you arrange the Corde Twist over the top of each pennant be sure to leave a few inches hanging so that you can tie them all together.  I used a square knot and pulled it tight.  Because the Corede Twist is rayon, it can be slippery.  Once you're satisfied with the distance between the pennants it's probably a good idea to put a small dab of glue to stop the knots from coming loose.  I tied a small knot at the bottom of each dangle of cord to finish it.  Again, a dab of glue will stop any raveling of the cut end.

Colors, colors everywhere!

I tried to use all 3 colors of the perle cotton and vary them from pennant to pennant so that there was a sample of them between what I used to buttonhole stitch around the edges and what I used to stitch the letters down.

This was a fun project!