'Make a Wish' Bunting......and a very special Baby Shower!

Hello friends! It's Friday!! I hope all is calm and lovely wherever you are…… I have had a slightly hectic couple of weeks rushing here and there. One of the most lovely things I have had to do is organise a Babyshower.

A dear friend fell unexpectedly but delightfully pregnant some months ago. I don't think baby showers are as popular here in the UK as in other parts of the world, and my friend is not one to do things with great fanfare…….so it was absolutely imperative that she have one. I did try to keep things low key for her, otherwise she would've been driven batty!

We decided to have a good old British afternoon tea at hers, but of course we needed some baby related activities. Knowing her well, and also being quite a quiet, staid person myself, I decided to leave the more raucous activities to her younger friends to organise. She loves bunting, and I wanted to make some bunting for Baby’s room, so I decided to make an activity of it, and enlist the help of the guests. I would get them to write wishes for the baby on plain bunting, and then sew it up with some coordinating fabrics. I'm ever so pleased with this personalised gift, so I thought I would write it up as a tutorial.

What you need is

Different matching fabrics, one plain for writing on

Coordinating thread

Binding or cord, as long as you want your bunting to be

Fabric pens, I bought mine from our local stationary shop

Ruler and fabric marker

Two Crafty Brownies Sewing Essentials

Paper to work out dimensions of your bunting

Pencil and ruler

What you do is

Decide on the size of your bunting flags. An old template I had (yes, Lucy, really!) measured 7” by 8”.

Draw your triangle on a piece of paper and add your preferred seam allowance down each side.

Measure the overall length of your triangle, you'll be cutting your fabric into strips this size.

Also measure the final width of your flag, (7.5” for mine) and work out what half of this is (3.75” for mine)

Fold your fabric parallel to the selvage so it fits your cutting mat, or if you don't use one, into 2-4 folds.

Cut into strips (mine measured 8.5” deep)

Now take one strip and fold it in half

From the top of the fold measure half your top flag width and make a mark

From the bottom of the fold measure a whole flag width

From each mark, top and bottom, make marks at 7.5” intervals.

(If you need a g and t by now, do feel free! I'll wait for you…….)

Now if you cut from top to bottom, mark to mark, you should end up with triangles of the right size and minimal fabric waste. ( a word of warning, if you use a directional fabric like my map fabric, half your flags will be upside down. I decided to go ahead, and use these for the back

On your plain fabric, mark your seam allowance with a disappearing pen, so people don't write inside the allowance which won't be visible at the end.

Now you are ready to party!

The event itself was lovely. I baked biscuits with our go-to biscuit recipe which I iced with royal icing. I made my favourite carrot cake, sausage rolls and little cupcakes. My pregnant friend, who had to help, made loads of delicious sandwiches, and everyone brought food. Another friend led an agreeably disgusting activity involving nappies, baby food and the different types of baby poo. You'll be glad I didn't take any pics of that bit. 12 of us gathered, some single, some engaged, some pregnant, some mothers, and we laughed, drank and ate loads.

I set out a table with paper and scraps of plain fabric to practice on, the plain triangles and fabric pens. Each guest was asked to write a wish or saying for the baby. There was much laughing and searching on the Internet, and I thought the finished works were fabulous.

To finish your bunting, heat-fix the writing, I ironed my triangles. Sew the sides of the triangles, right sides together. The top edge will be caught in the binding. Trim the allowance near the point to reduce bulk. Turn out and iron before sewing into the binding at your chosen interval. I did mine 2.5" apart.

The bunting isn't quite finished because in all the excitement, guess who forgot to write a wish? The Mum-to-be herself! Luckily I'm seeing her later, so she can do it then.

Have a fab weekend lovelies!!

Jenny xxx

Comments

Yes, showers are quite popular here in the US (baby AND bridal) and I've attended all sorts.

I love your bunting idea (I wonder if that has any relation to "bye baby bunting, daddy's gone a hunting..."?) and the materials you chose to use. (especially loving that map material!) It sounds like a wonderful time (diaper game included) and something she'll always treasure.

Posted by: Kelly | Friday, 13 May 2016 at 07:45 PM