Monday, October 19, 2009

Teeny Tiny Banner How-To


Now this is the fun part -- the decorating! And making teeny tiny little things, like this banner for the dollhouse's "play room." You could also make one of these cuties for another purpose, such as decorating a little bulletin board or shelf, etc. Here's how to make one.



1. Get some regular width, single-fold bias tape (I found the red tape I used at the thrift shop for $.25 woo) and measure the length you'll need for your banner. Allow for a little bit of extra tape at the ends if you need it for attaching your banner to something.
2. Draw or trace a little triangle shape onto some heavy cardboard or cardstock (I love to use the backs of scrapbook paper pads). Cut it out. This will be the template for your little fabric triangles.
3. Gather up a bunch of fabric scraps (even teensy ones work for this project) in lots of different colors. Using the template, cut out as many triangles as you need to cover the length of the bias tape.
4. Find a work surface where you can lay your bias tape out straight and flat, folded part facing up. Set your first triangle down at one end of the bias tape. The tops of the triangles should hit the middle of the tape, so that you can fold your tape in half exactly. Lay the triangles tip to tip all the way down your tape.
5. Once you are satisfied with the layout and color arrangement, secure each triangle to the bias tape with a teeny bit of fabric glue.
6. This is probably going way overboard, but before folding over the top half of the bias tape to iron it down, I stuck a thin little ribbon of fusible tape down the length of the banner. This is probably unnecessary, but it did make it really easy to keep the banner nice and neat when I ironed it down.
7. As noted, fold over the top half of the bias tape onto the triangles so that the bias tape is folded perfectly in half. Use the tip of your hot iron to iron it flat.
8. Sew with a straight stitch (or whatever stitch you choose). And that's it!!! All done.
You can do all your cutting while you are watching trash TV, no problem. The best part is that this project turns out S CUTE!!!! These pictures do not do it justice at all. It looks so adorable that I want to move into the dollhouse. Thanks for all your continued comments and ideas! I really, really appreciate them!


11 comments:

icandy... said...

awwww, cute!!!! i need to make some!!
hugs,
christina

Heather said...

oh my goodness gracious! How adorable!!! Just darling.

Wouldn't it be cute if you make a SuperStar poster for the playroom and have the superstar be your daughter? I have no idea how you would do that..photoshop maybe.

No matter, just thinking about loud. The house is really coming along and that's what matters the most.

Jennifer @ The Craft House said...

This is an awesome tutorial! The banner is so adorable!

My grandfather started a doll house for my sister and I over a decade ago that we grew out of and he never finished, but they still bought a ton of furniture and dolls for us to play with even without it being finished. I hope I one day will have the privilege of finishing it and giving it to my future daughter!

I just wanted to let you know of a site that sells doll house furniture, I know that your doll house is rather large, but I don't know exactly what scale size it is. This site offers a ton of 1" scale furniture!

http://miniatures.com/hbs/global/index2.asp

You can even request a free catalog that I have gotten once or twice that has thousands of furniture pieces, fabrics, even lighting fixtures for the doll house!

Have fun furnishing it, I am sure that you will love it!

Jennifer

Jennifer @ The Craft House said...

P.S: If you do not mind, I will be including this post in my Posts of the Week post due out on the 25th! :)

-Jennifer

BJ_Mama said...

That's almost TOO cute! almost.

Anonymous said...

Wow, walls that look like bubbles, great colors, and now tiny banners...I cant wait to see whats next!

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness gracious. So cute.

LollyChops said...

ahhhhhh! I am crinkling from the cuteness of this! I love it!

Megan @ Megity's Handmade said...

Swoon! I adore this! You are amazing.

Melissa said...

Very cute. You could also cut out mini Christmas light bulbs similar to the banner style to hang around the outside of the house for Christmas lights.

Anonymous said...

That little banner is TOO cute!! Love it.