DIY Vintage Owl Pennant Banner

I was inspired to make this fun little project for a friend, her baby shower was to be at our house, and I knew she liked these and had her eye on them on Etsy; so I got out my fabric stash in the browns, yellows and oranges that I thought would fit her theme and got to work.

The fabrics I chose

To make banner shown, you will need:
*16-7 1/2" 9" x 9" triangles in coordinating fabrics of your choice
*1- 2 1/2" by length of your banner strip of fabric (I used 5'3")
*1/4 yard heat and bond Ultrahold Iron-On adhesive
*Fabric scraps for applique
*Coordinating thread
*2 yds - cotton bias tape or ribbon for ties (optional)


First I cut out all the triangle pennant flags. The short top side is 7 1/2", each long side is 9".  I used eight flags in this banner, but you can make yours as long or short as you like. I made a paper pattern and also used my ruler and rolling mat cutter.

cutting out triangles

I doubled the fabric for a couple reasons. We live in Kansas where it's windy! If you ever use these outside, they hang better with a little more substance to them, not thrown about by the wind so easily.  Also, since I had decided to put the baby's name on the banner, I though if I doubled it, then if she wanted to use it for something else, it could be flipped around and, ta da...plain banner on the other side.

I also cut out the fabric strip that I used to attach all the flags. It is 2 1/2" wide by approximately 5'3" long. I used two strips and sewed them together. The length you choose depends entirely on how many flags, and how far apart you want them spaced. I spaced mine about 1" apart. Also at each end of the banner I attached about a 1 yd. piece of cotton bias tape for an extra tie.

owls from conception to completion

Next I had to decide what to applique. My friend likes owls, so I put an owl on each end of the banner. I googled owl appliques, and sketched a few on paper that I liked.
I chose the little round guy you see in the pictures. To make him you will need 4 different fabrics. Body, Belly, Beak and Eyes. I will tell you right now, I am not an applique expert, and I totally used the heat and bond NOT according to directions. I cut out my pattern, cut each piece out of fabric, and then lightly tacked the fabric to the heat and bond. Then I cut out each piece of the applique and ironed them down a little better to the heat and bond. Then peeled off the backing paper and placed all the elements of my design down on the ironing board. When everything was in place on the flag, I ironed them all together. My owls were done, now on to the letters...

sewing down the letters

I free hand cut SURI out of scrap fabric. I cut it double, because I didn't want to bond it down, and I thought it would sew down better being doubled. You could also heat and bond the individual letters down, which would make it easier. After I had all the letters in place, I used my walking free style foot to top stitch the designs in. On the owl I made eyes, and outlined everything with my own style. On the letters, I just sewed back and forth to make several random lines to make them subtly stand out from the back ground.

Sewing the two flag pieces together

OK, now my applique owl and my letters are all sewn.  I quick iron over them to flatten them out and I backed each flag with a coordinating fabric.  I sewed down the two long sides of each triangle, no need to sew across the top, as that will be sewn with the fabric strip when assembling.  When all the flags were sewn together, I then layed them out in the order I wanted.  I left a blank flag between owls and letters.  Then I pinned the right side of the strip to the right sides of the flags, spacing evenly. 

pinning flags to fabric strip

I used a 1/4" seam and sewed down the strip.  Almost done....then I ironed the fabric strip up, folded it in half and ironed again.  the back side was the salvage edge, so I didn't fold it under, but if you had a raw edge you could fold it under if you wanted to.  After that was all in place I top stitched, making sure to include the back fabric in as I sewed.  On the ends I added a piece of cotton bias tape, so I tucked that under and sewed it down as I top stitched. 

Sandwiched bias tape into folded end of banner

One more pass with the iron, and I was finished!  Let me know if you try one, and what design you use!