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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!

Year of Bunting July Challenge: Bunting For a Card or a Cake

July 11, 2019 · 2 Comments

Year of Bunting July Challenge: Bunting For a Card or a Cake

Over the last 10 days or so, it’s somehow become July.

So it’s time to have a look at what people who took part in June’s Year of Bunting challenge made!

There was only one entry last month. It was this bunting from Hazel, cleverly made from compost bags.

This isn’t something I would have ever thought of doing, so it didn’t make it onto the list of possibilities when I introduced last month’s challenge. I did think of using a plastic table cloth, but not compost bags! And actually they are often quite pretty with pictures of flowers on them.

Onto July’s challenge!

This month the challenge is to make bunting for a card or a cake. July is the month when I’m required to acknowledge that I’m a year older! I will be making some bunting to stick into the pink cake I will be making (and eating!) a bit nearer the time.

Here are some ideas for making tiny bunting and for using bunting on a card or a cake.

Ideas For Making Tiny Bunting

There are lots of different ways to make tiny bunting.

One option is to make it in the same way that you would if it was larger, by sewing little triangles to ribbon.

Or you could cut diamonds from scraps of fabric, fold them over a length of bakers’ twine and sew the sides together with a couple of stitches in the middle. That’s what I did here with these bunting pincushions.

year of bunting pincushion tutorial with mini bunting bunting for a card or a cake

A less fiddly alternative is to use washi tape. Cut some pieces of washi tape, fold them over some thread or baker’s twine and then cut into triangles. I’m going to write a post about this, so watch this space!

You could do the same with scraps of paper.

Ribbon bunting can be made in a similar way (there are instructions for this here).

Using Bunting On a Card

When I made this card, I used scraps of paper folded over bakers’ twine to make the bunting. This could work equally well with washi tape or ribbon bunting.

Sewing triangles made either from paper like this one, or from fabric like this one, is another possibility.

I like this card with bunting on the inside. The link doesn’t go anywhere but it would be quite easy to recreate something similar. The only thing to watch out for would be making sure that the bunting is contained within the card when it is folded up.

If you get carried away, you could make a whole range of bunting themed stationery! These bits are for a wedding, (warning: this site is very pink and has lots of adverts!) but it could be adapted for a party. You could also make sets of little notelets and things if you prefer to send handwritten notes rather than updating the whole world via Facebook. They would make a nice gift too.

Using Bunting On a Cake

A word of warning here too: looking at all the bunting themed cakes on Pinterest made me very hungry for cake!

You could use your washi tape or ribobn bunting, tie it to kebab sticks and push them into the cake, like this one.

Another option is to make flags from royal icing, like on these cakes.

This cake combines both!

If you’d like some more ideas, there are plenty more on my bunting Pinterest board!

If you want to take part (go on!), you have until the end of July. When you’re ready, take a photo and either share it on Tea and a Sewing Machine’s Facebook page, or on Instagram with the hashtag #yearofbunting. If you don’t do social media, you can email me a picture instead at teaandasewingmachine@gmail.com.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you make!

DIY Bunting Card

June 15, 2019 · Leave a Comment

DIY Bunting Card

Having concentrated mostly on sewing for the last few years, I’ve decided with one thing and another to change direction a little bit and include more of other crafts.

This is actually what I did when I started Tea and a Sewing Machine. It was called something else then, can’t remember what, and it was awful! The website was impossible to navigate, the design was eye-poppingly bad and the photos were blurry.

I promise we’ll not go back to that! But somewhere along the way, sewing took over and the other crafts were more or less abandoned.

So I’m bringing them back. I’m already feeling a lot more inspired than I have over the last few months, so we’ll try this for a bit and see how it goes.

If you’re mostly here for the sewing, don’t worry! There will still be sewing, just some other bits and pieces too.

So here’s the first non sewing project that I’ve written about in a while!

I was inspired to make a bunting card when I saw one that Julie from Sum of Their Stories had made.

She’d made a lovely card for the May challenge for The Year of Bunting.

When I saw it, after thinking how pretty it was, I remembered how I used to make cards and how much fun it was.

So I had a rummage, found some pretty paper, and had a go myself!

How To Make a DIY Bunting Card

You Will Need

https://www.sumoftheirstories.com/blog/make-a-floral-bunting-birthday-card

A5 card or a card blank
Scraps of pretty paper or washi tape
A larger piece of pretty paper (to cover the front of the card)
A paper doily (I got mine from Poundland)
Bakers’ twine
Buttons and beads (optional)
Paper flowers (optional)
Glue (PVA and a glue stick)
A ruler and a pencil

Instructions

If you’re not using a card blank, take your piece of card and fold it half.

Trim your paper so that it’s the same size as the front of the card.

Lay the doily over the top of the paper and move it about until you like where it is. Holding the card and the doily together, turn it over and draw round the paper. Cut out the doily.

Stick the paper to the card, and the doily to the paper.

Making the Bunting

To make the bunting, cut diamonds from the paper scraps. The easiest way to do this is to cut a rectangle and fold it half. Find the halfway point along the open edge and mark with a pencil. Join this point to the corners of the folded edge. Cut along the lines.

Cut a piece of bakers’ twine. Cover the wrong side of one of the bunting diamonds with glue. Fold it over the bakers’ twine and stick both halves together.

If you’re making your bunting from washi tape, you can make it in the same kind of way. Cut a piece of washi tape and fold it over the bakers’ twine. Cut the corners off the rectangle to make it into a triangle.

My strings of bunting each had five flags on them, but yours can have as many as you like! A handy thing to remember is that for some weird reason, odd numbers of things look better.

Decide where to put your bunting on the card, and trim the ends of the bakers’ twine.

Stick the ends of the bakers’ twine to the card with PVA glue. You might like to use a little bit of glue stick glue to stick some of the flags down too.

If you’re using buttons or beads, stick them between the flags with PVA glue.

I added some paper flowers to the bottom right corner. You could use a button if you don’t have any flowers.

Another option would be to write something like Julie did on hers. If you want to get into hand lettering, I can recommend this book (affiliate link).

Year of Bunting Challenge 4: Bunting With Flowers

May 4, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Year of Bunting Challenge 4: Bunting With Flowers

I have a hard time deciding which is my favourite season, do you?

I like the autumn. Crispy leaves, golden light and woodsmoke.

Winter’s nice when you get a clear crisp day. When it’s horrible out, you can light the fire, make a cup of tea and snuggle up with your favourite humans and non humans.

When it’s summer you don’t have to bundle up in coats and you can go out and do stuff (not that you can’t in winter, but it’s more fun when you’re not cold!).

Spring’s lovely though. After the dead of winter, buds and green shoots are a reminder that hope springs eternal. By this time of year when there’s blossom on the trees, the days are longer and the weather is warmer, it’s enough to make your heart glad.

So May’s Year of Bunting challenge is to make flower themed bunting. You have until midnight BST on the 31st May. When you’ve made your bunting, either post a picture on Instagram using the hashtag #yearofbunting, or on the Tea and Sewing Machine Facebook page.

If you don’t do social media, you can email a picture instead at teaandasewingmachine@gmail.com.

There will a prize!

By the way, if you’re doing the previous challenge, that’s still going on. The last day is Sunday 12th May, so the two challenges are overlapping this month.

How you make your bunting is up to you. Here are some suggestions.

Flower Themed Bunting

Appliqued flowers. I made this a while ago with appliqued trees.

12 tips for making bunting 12 things to sew in the autumn bunting is best year of bunting challenge 4 bunting with flowers

Retro flowers are fairly easy as are made using simple shapes. I did this with this laptop sleeve and also with this dress I made. Machine embroidery could be added to the applique if you wanted to jazz it up a bit.

Flower quilt blocks. I was going to say that quilt blocks are usually square and you’d have to turn them into triangles, but you could keep them square if you wanted to! I’m not the bunting police :). If I was, I might fine people for not having any bunting, but not because the flags weren’t triangles!

Crocheted bunting with flowers at the centre. You could adapt a pattern for granny squares. There are plenty of flower themed ones on the internet, and I have several on my crochet Pinterest board. As with the quilt blocks, you could turn them into triangles or you could keep them as squares, it’s up to you!

Tulle or net flowers attached to the flags. You could make flowers like this, from net, tulle or even cotton or polycotton, then attach them to the bunting.

Flower embroidery. By machine or by hand!

Flowery fabric. I made this last year and hung it off the front of my house.

easiest bunting tutorial ever year of bunting challenge 4 bunting with flowers

Another option would be to choose something with a bold print and cut the triangles so that the flowers were at the centre of the flags.

You could even choose a bold floral print and embellish the flowers in some way, perhaps with embroidery or with shiny things. Nobody will be judged for using a glue gun!

You have until midnight BST on the 31st May to make your flower themed bunting. When you’ve made your bunting, either post a picture on Instagram using the hashtag #yearofbunting, or on the Tea and Sewing Machine Facebook page.

If you don’t do social media, you can email a picture instead at teaandasewingmachine@gmail.com.

There will a prize!

By the way, if you’re doing the previous challenge, that’s still going on. The last day is Sunday 12th May, so the two challenges are overlapping this month.

Please join in, it will be fun!

Year Of Bunting Challenge 3: Knitted or Crocheted Bunting

April 18, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Year Of Bunting Challenge 3: Knitted or Crocheted Bunting

Welcome to the Year of Bunting Challenge 3!

Challenge 2 was to make some bunting embroidery and several people took part.

Hazel made a cross stitched book mark.

Julie made a needle case (she has a craft blog too which you can find here).

Christine made an embroidery hoop hanging with bunting and tassels.

Challenge 3

Challenge 3 is to make some knitted or crocheted bunting.

Since we’re already half way through April, this challenge will run until midnight BST on Sunday 12th May.

If you’d like to enter, all you have to do is knit or crochet some bunting, then either post it on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #yearofbunting, or post it on the Tea and a Sewing Machine Facebook page.

If you don’t do social media, you can email me a picture instead at teaandasewingmachine@gmail.com.

Tips and Ideas

If you’re stuck for ideas, here are some that might help.

You could use up odds and ends to make stripy bunting.

If there’s a stitch you particularly enjoy, you could make triangles featuring that stitch.

For crocheted bunting, you could make the flags either by crocheting rows, like knitting, or by crocheting in the round.

Crocheting in the round is a good way to make bunting if you want to start with a flower in the middle.

Another option is to make the flags, then add your design. You could embroider it or add knitted or crocheted details.

Some Tips

If you find that the edges of your knitted triangles are not as neat as you would like, try not knitting the first stitch of each row. Instead, slip the stitch onto the the needle, then knit the next one. If you are decreasing stitches, slip the first stitch onto the needle, then knit the 2nd and 3rd stitches together.

To crochet triangles in the round, start off with something that can be divided by 3.

Work out where the corners would need to be. Into those gaps, you’ll need to crocheted 2 groups of stitches. Into the other spaces, crochet one group.

For my crocheted bunting, I made a flower with 6 petals. Into the first space between the petals, I crocheted 1 group of trebles, then into the next space I crocheted 2 groups of trebles.

When that round was completed, I had 3 lots of 2 groups, and 3 lots of one. The groups of 2 made the points of the triangles.

So when I went round again, I crocheted 2 groups into the spaces at the points, and one group into each of the other spaces.

If you’d like some more inspiration, then please take a look at my bunting board on Pinterest.

I’m hoping you’ll join in!

Decorating a Cake: How To Make Washi Tape Bunting

You Will Need

Instructions

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Year of Bunting July Challenge: Bunting For a Card or a Cake

Ideas For Making Tiny Bunting

Using Bunting On a Card

Using Bunting On a Cake

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DIY Bunting Card

How To Make a DIY Bunting Card

You Will Need

Instructions

Making the Bunting

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Year of Bunting Challenge 4: Bunting With Flowers

Flower Themed Bunting

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Year Of Bunting Challenge 3: Knitted or Crocheted Bunting

Challenge 3

Tips and Ideas

Some Tips

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