Happy Tuesday and Merry December!
My thrifted and made gift idea for week three of this series is a handmade bunting made out of a thrifted shirt (or shirts you were about to take to the thrift 😉 ). I went with traditional seasonal colors but feel free to go with colors that don’t necessarily speak winter or Christmas. Think Spring – pinks, greens, yellows. Or muted tones that would easily match any decor or time of year. Also, if you have scrap fabric lying around, feel free to use it as well. Don’t be overwhelmed by the idea of having to sew something, you can also do a no-sew bunting by simply using fabric glue to attach the flags.
The bunting is such a sweet gift given alone or pair it with one or two other thrifted goods. Depending on how well you know the person you are gifting, you can pair it with a pretty platter, pitcher, a small art piece or print, a tea kettle or pot, a small indoor planter, a wool blanket or afghan, etc. With a just a little effort, these are all easy to find pieces at your local thrift store or estate sale. A few things to keep in mind – vintage tends to be more unique, quality over quantity, and purchase items that have multiple use potential. For example the old bread pan below makes for a great candle or trinket holder, the pitcher can be used not only to hold cream or milk but pencils or other goodies, and the platter is beautiful for serving treats or simply as an accent piece on a coffee table.
Thrifted goods:
Handmade goods:
Supplies:
- thrifted shirt (made of quality shirt fabric)
- a couple yards of ribbon, lace, binding or small width rope
- scissors
- pencil, pen or marker
- sewing machine or fabric glue or sewing needle
- thread
- measuring tape
- bunting flag template – buntingtemplate.pdf
Instructions:
1 – Print and cut out bunting flag template.
2 – Trace and cut. Lay shirt out as flat as possible and trace around the template onto the shirt with a sharpie, pencil, etc. Repeat. I used a larger boy’s shirt and was able to get at least 12 flags out of it.
3 – Fold and Iron. Fold the flags in half doing your best to get the back and front edges as even with each other as possible. Then Iron each flag.
4 – Measure and Place Flags. Lay out your lace, ribbon or binding on a large table or floor. Place flags evenly along it. I ended up using 10 flags. I left about 20 inches on each end and around 3 inches between each flag. You could pin your flags or I just placed small pencil marks along my lace where each flag would begin. (If you are using glue instead of sewing, you can go ahead and just fold each flag over your ribbon at this point, place glue along the edges of the flags, press down so that the front and back edges are even and then repeat for each flag.)
5 – Sew. Fold the flag over your ribbon or lace. Starting at the top of one edge of the flag, sew down one side of the flag and then up the other edge or side. I just kept the foot of my machine even with the edge of the fabric – so I got somewhat of a straight line. I used a zig zag stitch but a straight stitch would be perfect as well. Keep it simple. (If you are hand sewing, I would use an embroidery floss and just do long stitches.) Continue doing this with each flag.
6 – Done! Now gift or hang.
So sweet of you to follow along! Whether you are budgeting this Holiday season or simply enjoy the idea of giving handmade gifts, I hope my ideas are providing your with a little inspiration.
-xoxo-
plaid pockets & pink shoes 