How to Make A Penant Banner

These penant banner are ALL THE RAGE right now. Seriously, for some reason they are very chic these days. While I tend to shy away from "trends" as a general rule, this one is too cute to avoid.

But, they can be expensive to buy. You can't go to the Walmart to get them. Usually they are custom made and pricey. Etsy is doing booming business with them. 

Well, I decided that if they were as easy to make as they look, then indeed it would be worth an experiment to see.

And don'tchaknow? It was easy as pie, and potentially a "no-sew" if you swing that way.

Cool eh?

Here we go:

Supplies:
Depending on the length you want, an the size and number of triangles, you'll need fabric and bias tape.
For mine, I did 8x10ish triangles and I did 10 of them. 1/2 a yard of fabric was enough. I used two different fabrics, so I got 1/4 of each.
Pinking Shears. (Unless you REALLY want to sew all the edges of your triangles, this is worth the money.) Pinking shears keep unsewn edges from fraying.
If you're doing the "no sew" version you need a product called "Stitch Witchery."
If you want your penant to say something, you need fabric, felt or precut foam letters to spell it out.

Now, the How-To:
Based on the size of your triangle, make your stencil. Google Images is my friend. I googled, "triangle" and then copied the one I liked best. I put it in Paint.net and resized. Easy. Then I used my pinking shears and cut out the triangles two at at time.

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Once they were all cut out, I figured out based on my bias tape length and size of the triangles, how far apart to put the triangles. I am not strong at math, so this was a challenge. :)

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Then I pinned all the triangles in place. I pinned them inside the bias tape so the folded edges of the bias tape are inside. Does that make sense? It makes a nice clean edge.

I alternated each fabric, but you can do it how ever you want. You have my permission.

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If you're going to do the "no sew" option, now is the time to employ your Stitch Witchery. It requires an iron, I do believe. You may need to use some weights or heavy books to hold it all down until it dries.

I sewed mine using a large zigzag stitch, easy as pie, just down the line.

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I used precut foam letters with adhesives backs for my words because I was making this for Erin's baby shower. We don't know the baby's name, so I just stuck on "Baby Boy" on it. It's removeable and if she wants to use it in the baby's nursery later she can add his name and hang it up.

If you want it to say something permanent, you can use felt and make stencils.

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I purposefully put the letters on crooked, but that was because I was going for "whimsical" or something. If you want it straight, measure it out.

Hang it up and you're done.

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Super cute and easy. This took me 30 minutes total (minus my trip to the fabric store) and it is an adorable addition to any party decor. I know people who have these made to match their house and hang them on their mantle. Other people have them for every holiday. A quick, custom decoration is always a plus.

Go to, and make a penant banner!

From July 2010