Decorating a Cake: How To Make Washi Tape Bunting

July 26, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Decorating a Cake: How To Make Washi Tape Bunting

Although I’ve like making things all my life, when it comes to being creative in the kitchen, I’m definitely a work in progress!

When my mum taught me how to sew, knit and crochet, she also taught me how to bake.

My mum made amazing birthday cakes. There was the blue one when I was 4, in the shape of a 4 with jelly diamonds, and the Mr Happy cake when I was 5. Also the rabbit cake she made for my sister, with grass made from coconut that she dyed green.

I like baking, mostly because I like eating, especially cake! But when it comes to decorating, my efforts are closer to Nailed It than The Great British Bake Off.

One way to make a cake pretty without losing your mind or it taking ages or making a huge amount of mess is with washi tape bunting.

Washi tape bunting doesn’t take long to do, it’s easy and your cake will look pretty enough for any kind of celebration (or even if you just want a pretty cake!).

You Will Need

Washi tape. One design will do, but you could use more if you wanted to. I used 2 this time.
Bakers’ twine or embroidery thread
Skewers
Scissors

Instructions

Cut a length of bakers’ twine, allowing enough to tie the ends to the skewers. About the same length as the diameter of your cake is a good guide. If you cut it a bit longer, you can always trim the ends if you have too much.

Decide how many flags you’ll need. If you’re using more than one design of washi tape, you’ll also need to decide on what order they’ll be in. It’s worth bearing in mind that odd numbers of things usually look best.

Cut pieces of washi tape about 5 cm long. They don’t need to be perfect because you’ll be trimming them down, but it makes things easier if they are of a similar size.

One of the good things about washi tape is that although it’s sticky enough to stick to things, it’s also easy to pull off! I cut all my pieces of washi tape and stuck them to the table.

Find the middle point on your piece of bakers’ twine. Take the bit of washi tape that you want in the centre of your washi tape bunting and fold it over the twine.

Do the same with the pieces of washi tape either side of the centre. It will hang better if you leave a little bit of a gap between the flags.

When you’ve stuck all of your washi tape to your bakers’ twine, trim them so that they are all the same size.

Now cut the flags into triangles, or you could leave them as they are if you prefer.

Tie the ends of the twine to the skewers and it’s ready to decorate your cake!

Washi tape bunting can also be used to decorate a handmade card, and I have a post about this here!

How To Make a Tied Wreath

July 18, 2019 · 2 Comments

How To Make a Tied Wreath

Last week I decided it was time to make my front door a present in the form of a tied wreath.

A few years ago I made a new wreath for my door every couple of months.

What with everything else that was going on, I’d stopped doing this and my poor door was wearing a wreath that I made 3 years ago!

Making some more bunting to hang off the front of my house, it occurred to me that the bits left over could be cut up to make the pieces for another tied wreath, and I could get two things done at once (almost!).

Here’s the bunting. I made it in the same way that I made this last year. The lacy looking bits are cut from an old net curtain. My funny old house looks so much more cheerful!

And here are the instructions for making the wreath.

Instructions For Making a Tied Wreath

You Will Need

Wire (I used garden wire, but a wire coat hanger would work too)
Strong tape
Scraps of fabric

Instructions

Bend the wire round into a circle about 25 cm in diameter. If the wire you are using is quite thin, wrap in round several times to make it stronger.

Secure the ends with the tape.

Cut your fabric scraps into pieces approximately 2 cm by 10 cm (3/4 inch by 4 inches).

Choose one of the prints and tie pieces to the wire, spacing them out evenly.
Just tying them once is enough. I wasn’t fussed about having mine with the different prints all in a certain order, but I did want them spread out a bit.

Then choose another and tie those on in the gaps.

Repeat until you have some of everything tied on.

If you still have some spaces, fill them in with any remaining pieces.

The wreath will look best if the fabric scraps are close together, so budge them up a bit so that you can fill up all the spaces.

Now I have a wreath that matches my bunting!

You might also like these wreath tutorials:

I also have a Pinterest board devoted to wreaths which you can find here!

Free Crocheted Bunting Pattern

April 25, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Free Crocheted Bunting Pattern

Making crocheted bunting is a fun way to use up odds and ends of yarn from other projects.

This pattern shows how to make traditional bunting triangles, worked in the round. The triangles are quite small, although obviously that depends on the weight of the yarn and the size of hook you use!

If you want to make your flags bigger, you could go round again a couple of times. There are instructions for doing this in the pattern.

I used 2 colours to make mine because I wanted the centres to look like flowers and to stand out from the rest of the flag. You might choose to use more colours, or just one.

year of bunting free crocheted bunting pattern

5 flags from this pattern makes a little bit of bunting, perfect for hanging off a bookcase, a smallish dresser or a fireplace. If you want to make more, for some weird reason odd numbers look best!

Hopefully you know already that I’ve declared 2019 to be the Year of Bunting! You can read about why here, and if you’d like to join in, there’s a list of challenges here.

If you’re planning to join in with Challenge 3, feel free to use this pattern!

Instructions

Please be aware that as I am English, I have used English crocheting terms.

In colour A (white):

4 ch, then join with ss.
3 ch, *then yarn over hook, insert hook into ring, yarn over hook. Pull back through ring, yarn over hook again and pull through 2 of the loops on the hook.* Repeat the starred section once, then yarn over hook and pull through remaining stitches. This makes the first cluster.

Clusters 2-5:
*3 ch, then yarn over hook, then insert hook into ring. Yarn over hook again, then pull through the ring. Yarn over hook once more and pull through 2 loops on the hook.* Do this 3 times, then yarn over the hook and pull through the rest of the loops.

Repeat this 4 more times, then 3 ch. Join to the first cluster with ss. Fasten off.

In colour B (blue):

Round 1
Work dc into a ch sp to join. 2 ch (counts as 1 tr), then 2 tr onto the same space.
3 tr into next ch sp, 1 ch, then 3 tr into same ch sp.

*3 tr into next ch sp. Into the next ch sp, 3 tr, 1 ch, 3tr.* Repeat starred section once. Join with ss.

Round 2
*3 tr into next ch sp. Into next ch sp, 3 tr, 1 ch, 3 tr. 3 tr into next ch sp.* Repeat twice. Join with ss.

To add extra rounds for bigger flags, work 3 tr, 1 ch, 3 tr into the points of the triangle, and 3 tr into the other ch sp.

When you’ve finished your flags, thread some ribbon through the chain spaces along one edge of each triangle.

Bunting Tote Bag Tutorial

March 29, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Bunting Tote Bag Tutorial

This is a post I actually wrote 3 years ago when a new law was introduced in the UK that required shops to charge for plastic bags.

I’m recycling it because it fits in nicely with the Year of Bunting!

For making the bunting tote bag, I’d recommend using a strong fabric, like a heavy weight cotton. The canvas I used was left over from some curtains I’d made, and the appliqued bunting from scraps of cotton from dresses and other things.

If you don’t have any canvas, you might have an old tablecloth or some curtains you could use.

If you’d rather use a lighter cotton or polycotton fabric, you could line it to make it stronger, or just decide to use it to carry bread and flowers instead of potatoes and gallons of milk!

The bunting tote bag has boxed corners, which means that depending on what you put it, it should stand up.

How to Make a Bunting Tote Bag

1. Cut a rectangle of fabric. Good dimensions would be the same width as a Lidl bag (or other bag for life) and twice as long, plus seam allowance. Mine measured at 48 cm x 120 cm.

If you are using fabric with a directional print, cut 2 rectangles and sew them together.

2. If you do not have an overwhelming urge to cover everything in bunting, you can skip this bit and go straight to Step 3.

To make the bunting, cut a rectangle 9 cm x 10 cm. Fold in half lengthways. Cut diagonally from the folded corner to the corner opposite. Use this triangle to cut 5 triangles. Position them onto the fabric, allowing for seams. Pin in place, then applique them to the fabric. Sew a piece on of ribbon so that it covers the tops of the triangles.

3. With the right sides together, pin the side seams then sew them up. Trim the seams. Finish the seams with zigzags, or an overcasting stitch if you don’t have an overlocker. This could be the difference between getting all of your shopping home and the bag breaking and veg and milk and stuff ending up all over the road!

4. To make the boxed corners, press firmly on the fold at the bottom. Squash one of the corners flat so that the seam is aligned with the fold at the bottom. Measure up 6 cm from the corner. Pin. Sew across the corner. Cut the corner off. For more detailed instructions for making boxed corners, visit this tutorial here.

5. Hem the top of the bag.

6. To make the handles, cut 2 pieces of fabric 40 cm long and 10 cm wide. Fold in half lengthways. Then fold the outer edges into the middle. Fold in half and pin. Sew. I like to sew along both edges so that it looks symmetrical. Repeat for the other handle.

7. Sew the handles to the bag. You will need to sew them on in a few places to ensure that they stay on when the bag is full of shopping.

Now all you have to do is remember to take it with you when you go shopping!

Tips

Heavy weight fabric will be strongest, but other fabrics can be made stronger by adding a lining.

Ripstop will make good bags that are both strong and waterproof.

You could make bunting tote bags in different sizes.

Decorate them as you like to jazz them up.

If you will be carrying your shopping a long way, add some wadding to the handles and quilt them to make them more comfortable.

They make great last minute Christmas gifts and are a good way of using up fabric that you don’t know what to do with!

DIY Bunting Tea Towel

March 8, 2019 · Leave a Comment

DIY Bunting Tea Towel

There are lots of good things about being able to sew.

One of them is that there’s no need to be trawling the shops or the internet because there’s something you want or need, and nothing you find matches what’s in your head! You can just make the thing instead.

When I hit a gloomy patch, something that I find to be helpful is to remind myself of what’s important and focus on that. Unsurprisingly my family are at the top of the list!

Although I object to the amount of mess they all make sometimes, I actually quite like pottering about at home. And I like to make things for my house that are an expression of who I am.

So the other day I decided to make a present for my kitchen. I know that tea towels aren’t very exciting, but most of mine are old and have gone grey from being washed a lot. A nice new tea towel with bunting on it was just the thing!

The fabric behind my bedroom door is bordering on out of control. Every so often it falls over and nobody can get in or out! So I had a rummage in there to see what I could find. I found some white cotton and some red and white gingham.

I did start to overthink a little bit about whether the cotton was suitable, whether it was thick enough, whether I could reuse an old nappy to line it, before remembering that if you make it yourself, you can decide on these things as there’s not necessarily right or wrong!

So in the end I used the white cotton, some towelling, gingham ribbon and scraps of gingham fabric. I also found some red checked fabric left over from the curtains I made for the kitchen. I think I was saving it for something, but I can’t remember what! So I turned that into tea towels too.

How To Make DIY Bunting Tea Towels

You Will Need

Cotton or linen fabric
Towelling (you could not bother with this if the cotton you’re using is thicker than the stuff I had.
Scraps of fabric for applique
Fusible interfacing (optional)
Ribbon

Instructions

Cut a rectangle from the cotton fabric and another the same size from the towelling. You can make your tea towel whatever size you want, but if you need a template, use an existing tea towel as a guide.

If the fabric you’re using for the appliqued bunting looks like it might fray, you’ll need to iron some fusible interfacing to it before cutting out.

Cut 7 flags from the fabric. There are tips for cutting flags for bunting here.

Pin the flags to the fabric.

Cut a length of ribbon the same width as the cotton. Pin it to the cotton about 5 cm up from the bottom edge.

Check that everything is how you want it, then applique the flags to the cotton and sew on the ribbon.

Pin the cotton to the towelling with the right sides together. Leaving a gap for turning out, sew around the outside edge.

Trim the seams and cut across the corners. Turn it out. Pin the opening. Top stitch around the edge.

If you are using thicker cotton and don’t want to line your diy bunting tea towel with towelling, you could hem it with a folded hem instead.

Decorating a Cake: How To Make Washi Tape Bunting

You Will Need

Instructions

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How To Make a Tied Wreath

Instructions For Making a Tied Wreath

You Will Need

Instructions

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Free Crocheted Bunting Pattern

Instructions

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Bunting Tote Bag Tutorial

How to Make a Bunting Tote Bag

Tips

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DIY Bunting Tea Towel

How To Make DIY Bunting Tea Towels

You Will Need

Instructions

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