Bunting

I love bunting!  I love to see a string of bright, cheerful triangles adorning a room in an array of colours, designs or florals.

My first attempt at bunting was a few years ago now, I had a bundle of fat quarts and decided to use them to ‘give it a go’.  I had recently just started to use my sewing machine again after years of it being stuck in the cupboard.  I had made a pair of curtains out of georgette to adorn the marquee doors for the summer ball at the children’s school.  Georgette is NOT the fabric to use as a first time returning to sewing !!!

However, after sewing with georgette, good ole cotton was a breeze!

In my head, as I’d decorated the children’s rooms when they were little, I could see the room festooned with bunting. Master KMT, a typical boy, loved dinosaurs and pirates and his room was a lovely sand colour with one wall in a pale blue with stripy curtains and headboard.  It was a beach colour scheme I’d gone for when we decorated his new bedroom when I was pregnant with Miss KMT and we were moving him out of the nursery.

Wondering around a local town one day I looked in the window of the sewing shop and saw this wonderful bunting with pirates on it and just had to have it for his room.  I was sold a complete piece of fabric with triangular panels on for me to cut out and turn into bunting.  Simple yes?  NO!  Having never made bunting before, it put fear into me.

Not wanting to ‘muck it up’ I decided I needed to have a trial attempt - hence the fat quart bundle experiment.

I took a pattern from the triangles on the pirate panel in paper and off I went cutting out my triangles. I’m pleased to say that the finished product was really pleasing and didn’t take me as long as I thought it would, a couple of days in total.

Feeling confident, off I went cutting out the pirate panels and adding a plain red backing (I like my bunting to be double fabric so it doesn’t curl up) with some bright red bias binding to hang them from the room was soon festooned.  Since then, the room has been decorated in more grown up Marvel inspired colours of grey and royal blue.  Master KMT is still a lover of dinosaurs and pirates and was adamant the pirate bunting was to stay - much to my joy.

My nephew, on seeing his cousins pirate bunting wanted some, so I duly set out and bought another panel and he has the same bunting festooning his bedroom.

Then it came to Miss KMT - she wanted some too and my vision for her bedroom had bunting hanging also.  However, at that time, she was sharing Master KMT’s bedroom but I could still hang some in what would become her bedroom, couldn’t I !!

I found some fat quarts at the local Hobbycraft, with castles, unicorns and flowers on, right up Miss KMT’s street.  Pink bias binding this time and some flowers cut off some old headbands she’d had as a toddler, that were actually pretty useless, glue gunned on at intervals along the bias binding.  The end result a very pretty, girly festoon of bunting.

Can you tell I like the word, festoon !!!

Then my mind started working as to where else bunting could be hung, browsing in Hobbycraft one day I found some lovely tartan and Christmas fat quarts, now there’s a thought, Christmas bunting for my new kitchen.

Unfortunately, due to normal life things going on and children changing schools, 2 years apart and 8 miles apart making my school run round trip a 12 mile, 1 hour escapade twice a day, I didn’t get around to the Christmas bunting.  Mr KMT went off shopping just before Christmas 2 years ago and come home with ready made bunting !  What !?  Why!?  I tactfully (I thought I was tactful) explained it wouldn’t be hung up as I was making some but had just not got around to it.  Last Christmas I did get around to it.  A happy and festive sway of tartan and Christmasy fabric draping my wall with it’s triangles and incorporating Mr KMT’s bought Hession squares also !

Now I have pins along the top of my wall, waiting for the bunting that will permanently adorn the wall. Unfortunately, I have a specific idea in my head of what I’m what hanging there, plain red, red and white gingham and a red and white floral, something like a Cath Kidston floral. Can I find that floral fabric that’s in my head? No! I can’t. What I’m looking for is actually Cath Kidston’s Rosalie in red and white, I have a mug in my cupboard of the exact colour way I’m looking for. But trying to purchase the fabric is looking costly!

A recent trip to Shrewsbury on a number of missions to get things bought, repaired etc that had mounted up over lockdown meant a visit to Watson and Thornton. A favourite fabric shop of Mom’s, I knew I’d probably find something in there. I did! While it has more pink in than I’d like, it is the closest I’ve come to the Rosalie.

So, I now have all the fabric I need, I’ve measured the wall in question and in total it’s 22feet ! That’s over 7 meters of red bias binding I need to buy now !!

I better get cracking on cutting out my triangles - I need a rotary cutter I think !

And...finished!