A banner project

Way back when, before I fell off the face of the Earth, I blogged about a project for a the nursery of a friend's baby. I had all these ambitious plans of using fabric to cover wood to spell out the name Josie.

I was set to go down a path until I saw this kick-ass banner made the wonderful and always-inspiring Erin Compton. And, really, at that point I was hooked. Erin didn't post instructions, but I spent at least one night laying in bed hatching a plan to replicate her project.

Last night, I finally got to work and I couldn't be happier with the result. (Even if the blues blend a bit too much.) Behold!


Before you say anything: yes, Josie is a girl. And yes, her nursery colors are blue and yellow. (Yay for bucking the trend of all pink, all the time!)

I'm toying around with trying out a tutorial, because the project was really simple and I think it's something lots of people could make. But it wasn't my original design, so I think I'm going to hold off. But if you're interested, it's pretty much fabric, felt, and bias tape. The hardest part is the applique. (Hint: Pin the shit out of it.)

Here's a few in-progress photos.

I printed out letters on the computer, traced them on to wax-backed freezer paper and then ironed the freezer paper onto to the felt so I knew what to cut out.



Like I said, the best way to applique is to pin the absolute snot out of whatever you're sewing. Like this:


Or this:



Sidebar to show you that I got artistic with the photography of my bobbin:


In case you're one of the majority of my readers who have absolutely zero clue what the fuck applique is, here's what it looks like:


The whole thing took me less than three hours to finish. (Read: I listened to two-thirds of a Prairie Home Companion and one Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR.) But since it was nighttime when I finished, I couldn't take pictures. So I carefully packed up the banner and hauled it to church with me today, knowing I could wrangle two folks to hold it for me. (Plus, who doesn't think churches are kickass backgrounds?) I should give a bloggy shoutout to my fabulous helpers. Don't they looked THRILLED to help?


The truth is, I was so damn pleased with my handiwork that I dragged the thing out of my bag no fewer than six times at church and insisted on giving people an on-the-spot show-and-tell. There was significant "oooohing." It rocked.

Can't wait to get pics of this hanging up in the nursery! Josie's gonna love it. Next up: teaching her to appreciate a nice, dry Chardonnay. (Am I the best damn aunt, or what?)