Thursday, 8 December 2011

(Good Old Fashioned) Bunting!

As you all know over the past couple of weeks I've been going barmy for bunting! I've been so desperate to make some! I told myself that once I had finished off some of my other projects, I was allowed to give the bunting a whirl. Well.... I finished off a couple of Christmas presents and got going with the bunting!

Now usually I jump straight on in with a pattern. This time was different. I really spent time looking at different patterns and giving them little trial runs. I also looked around my favourite crafty shops for inspiration on colour and shape.

I decided to settle on making a granny square but with just three sides. I ended up making a small mountain of "granny triangles" in many different colours. Maybe I went a little over board!
I made these with Stylecraft but could not settle on a suitable border for them.


I made them in white creative cotton, maybe for a Christmassy snowflake bunting?


Then once again in Stylecraft but with three colours instead of four.


At work one night when I wasn't on stage, I had a play around with some bunting edging. Yet again I couldn't come up with something I was happy with. I went home from work that night with a bag full of assorted triangles, but no bunting in sight. :-(

On a bit of a whim, I decided to take some time out from the crocheted bunting. I made a start on some fabric bunting and ended up working on it into the early hours of the morning.  I made the bunting out of the fabric squares recently bought from the craft store.


I first tried sewing triangles on the sewing machine, but soon decided it was way too fiddly. I decided to make it a little easier on myself and ended up cutting triangles out of cardboard. I then stuck the fabric to the cardboard with glue. It worked a treat!

I glued the triangles to a long length of ribbon. My bunting was taking shape!! I added some stitches for a little extra strength. Would you like to see my scrap fabric bunting?


I'm really pleased with it! Look at those gorgeous printed fabrics! Such yummy vibrant colours!


I added buttons to the top of each of the triangles. I simply bought cheap white fabric buttons and coloured them pink with a fabric marker. They turned out great! And they were much, much cheaper than buying individual pink buttons!



Here it hangs in my apartment from window to window, brightening up the wintery Hamburg view.


Adding a touch of colour to the black and white pictures on the wall.


I'm sooooo happy with my fabric bunting, it makes me smile each time I look at it. I keep moving it around the apartment, hanging it in different places from day to day.

Now I still wasn't done with the crocheted bunting, but I was totally over my granny triangles! I showed them to Dennis and we both decided to try a different design.
We had a little hooky improv session and between the two of us came up with a cute little piece of bunting.

I was sooooo happy with it! We sat down and worked out exactly what we had done and figured out the pattern for it. 


We decided to keep the colours a little more neutral for a more simple look. We used 5 different shades of Rico baby cotton dk. 


We joined each of the pieces with a combination of simple chains and clusters of double crochets, keeping the look really simple. Here it is in all of its glory, Our 'Good Old Fashioned Bunting!'





This has really been one of my favourite projects. It was really fun trying out different patterns and finally making one up between the two of us.  We were both really proud at how the bunting turned out! We have decided to write the pattern out in full and share with everybody!  The pattern for 'Good Old Fashioned Bunting' will be coming very  soon!

and Dennis xxx
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5 comments:

  1. I love it what a great joint project. The fabric bunting looks lovely too.

    What will you do with your "rejected" bunting?

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  2. So many hints and tips in this post - Thanks Mat. I love your new look Good Old Fashioned Bunting and will definitely give it a try when you put up the pattern. It`s so different from the normal granny square bunting. Well done you.

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  3. Wow I love your fabric bunting with the buttons n all. It really s the prettiest I have seen. Your own pattern is very different to anything I have seen, it looks quite sophisticated and reminds me of Tibetan Prayer flags. I think you two are a Crochet Design Force to be reckoned with...I can see it now your own T.V show you would have loads of loyal fans!!! ;)

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  4. I love what came out in the end! But I also adore the "granny triangles" They would also work great hanging around :) I'd love to know what you end up using them for

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  5. your buntings are indeed gorgous & very inspiring.love the colors.very inspiring since I'm new at squares.

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