Handmade Primitive Banner

I am a banner freak, I just LOVE banners.

I coffee stained my material. 

*I use any kind of coffee to stain my fabric. 

I wrap a couple tbs in a paper towel, twist the end, add it to a cup of water and put in the microwave for a minute. (Making sure my entire piece of paper towel is wet first!) Then I brush it on my wadded up material. And then just pour the rest all over it so the entire piece of fabric is soaked. Let it try overnight, and this is what I get. Some spots darker, which I like!

I cut out my banner using a banner template I found for free online.

Pentant Banner Template

 

 

I used my SCAL2 program and my cricut to cut out some shapes.

And then I attached them to my banner pieces using the Steam A Seam method.

 

 

 You can read all my directions for steam a seam HERE

Now came the time to string them up. 

I happily got out my crop-o-dile, thinking I could just use it to put a hole in each corner of my banner pieces.

Well, NO SUCH LUCK!

My crop-o-dile just refused to poke a hole through my muslin material.

(And neither would a regular hole punch, I tried. LOL)

So does anyone know of a way to put a hole in material? Please share. 

I ended up using a razor/utilty knife to slice an x in each corner. 

I got out my Jute. Twine would have been just as well, if not better. But all I had on hand was Jute.

I measured where I intended to hang my banner, and added about 2 extra feet, and then cut a piece of my Jute to that length.

I then started adding my banner pieces to my jute string. I made it so the jute came across the front of each banner piece. I think it adds to the primitive look this way.

And here it is all hung up. 

(Don't pay attention to the shelf decorations. My wonderful hubby just built me the shelf, and I haven't got around to decorating it the way I want yet!) 

Using the Cricut to Cut Material

I have made pillows before, easiest thing to sew. 

So when I came across a video on how to cut fabric with your cricut, 

I just knew this would be my next project.

I took my well loved, and well used, and well in need of a replacement, couch throw pillows, 

and I used them as a template. (Instead of using stuffing for my pillows, I plan on using my old pillow itself)

*I did make a set of pillows as a present last week, and they turned out perfect! And I used stuffing for those. My luck with MY pillows, was not on my side.

Measured my pillow, and added about 1/2 inch extra for seam allowance.
 

Cut my material and sewed it, leaving a large opening on one end. (To turn inside out and add the stuffing, or pillow in my case)




I then cut a piece of muslin fabric to use as a backdrop for my design. You can use any material for this or skip it entirely.

 

 

I did not want sew lines to show, nor did I want the extra hassle of cutting and measuring, so I just used steam a seam to attach this piece to my pillow case/cover.

(Jeeze, I really must stop being so lazy!)

I made the template using my Sure Cuts A Lot program.

I am lucky enough that my SCAL still works with my old Cricut.

 (This program no longer works with newer Cricut's)

And I cut it out on a piece of paper first to see how I liked the look of it. 

Here is the design done with the paper...

And I loved how it looked. 

So I decided to cut it on my material.

Now, if you plan on doing this, and you are like me and have never cut material with the cricut,

this YouTube video  explains it perfectly!

(This is the video that inspired me to make my own pillow with this technique.)

I cut my material to size, then added the steam a seam to the back side.

As I learned in the above video,

I attached the material with steam a seam side down to my mat.

Once you have that done, BE SURE TO MIRROR YOUR IMAGINE before cutting!

(This is very important if you are cutting letters!)

I learned this by mistake, by forgetting to mirror mine!

This is where I ran into problems. 

I knew my blade in my cricut needed replaced, but I thought I had a couple more cuts with it. 

 

I was WRONG. 

 

I had ONE cut left with it, and I wasted it when I forgot to mirror my image.

It barely cut the crow out the 2nd time.

So none of my letters cut properly. And after an hour of trying to cut them out with a utility knife, I gave up. 

I decided to made a design with the images that did cut. 

Not sure how much I like it, almost wish I had waited until I got new blades, but I have NO patience at times.

So I attached them, and ironed them in place.

After finishing, something was just off to me.

The muslin was just far to white.

So what I should have done first, I had to do last.

Ya, I told ya luck was NOT with me on this project.

I coffee dyed the muslin. And while I was at it, went ahead and coffee stained another piece of it for my next pillow. (Which I will be waiting for a new cricut blade to attempt! LOL)

 

I used embroidery thread and sewed around the edges.

And here it is all, almost all, finished.

I just have to add the pillow and sew it up. 

But I am waiting until I get my 2nd pillow done so I can have a matching set for my couch.

 

 I found the crow graphic for this project at

Primitive Blessing Free Goodies

 

 

Fabric Tree from Hangers

I was cleaning out my closets, and had a stack of  metal hangers I planned to throw out.

While staring at the pile of hangers, I kept thinking "I can make something out of those!" 

(I get hangers by the dozen, thanks to my husband. Every week his work pants come on a new set of hangers. So every week, I end up with 12 metal hangers, which totals almost 50 a month)

So I thought of making a giant tree out of them.

Now, a few people have mentioned that a tomato cage would  work for this, 

but I don't have 50 tomato cages just laying around like I do hangers. LOL

I used a hanger and bent it into a round, circle shape. I attached it to itself. 

(I didn't get very good pictures, I will take better ones on my next attempt)

I then took about 6-8 hangers, and straightened them out completely.

(I used needle nose pliers to help me with this part.)

Now came the hard part for me. My husband was of great assistance.

I took the straightened hangers, and attached them to my circle hanger.

Even with my pliers, I just couldn't get them tight enough, that's where my husband came into play. 

*Yay for muscles and strong, loving husbands.

I attached 6 of the hangers all around my circle. 

*It would have been better using about 10-12 hangers, but I got lazy. 

And be careful, once we attached a few of the hangers, they liked to jump around as we were attaching the rest. Almost took my eye out. :)

After all the hangers were attached, I pulled them all up, and using a piece of fabric cut in a long strip, secured them all into the tree shape. (It doesn't matter how it looks, you will be covering it up with different material anyways)

Horrible Pic, but it gives you a bit of an idea of how I attached the hangers.

I then used a BUNCH, and I mean a BUNCH of scrap fabric I had.

I cut all the fabric into strips 3 inches long by 1 inch wide.

*Just enough to tie each piece into a knot

I then used the cut strips and started tying them onto my hangers. 

I then placed some lights inside of the "tree", and called it done. 

Here is my finished tree.

And I am very happy with it.

This project took me a couple hours to finish. But it was something to do while I watched TV.