Question:

Can anyone point me to a website, or explain to me, the technicalities of making a banner? Just a simple one, maybe made of felt that the children can glue felt figures and letters on. I have a small one that was made for dd's baptism, but I want to make it larger. And I'm *not* a "crafty" person so it's a bit daunting.

Answer:

I'll help as best I can. First, though, I need to know:

- How formal is this banner? What will it be used for, and how long do you want it to last?

- Will the children be gluing things onto it themselves? Will they be cutting things out themselves? Do you want the end result to look professional, or childishly cute, or is messy and fun good enough?

- Do you have a sewing-machine? A serger? A hot-glue gun? Does your not-very-local mall contain a Fabricland (or Joanne's Fabric, I think that's the equivalent American chain)or a Michaels Crafts?

I like upholstery or table-cloth fabric for the banner back-ground. Most of the banner can be assembled with Heat-and-Bond, which is available in long narrow strips (for hemming your banner and joining the lining on) and 20-inch wide sheets (for attaching the motifs). Felt doesn't hang well, but is good for the motifs. Burlap hangs well, is cheap, glues well with ordinary white glue and is available in bright colours. Motifs can be made of felt, of table-cloth jacquard or other fabrics. Most motifs with the exception of felt should be treated with a fray-stop compound like Fray-Chek.

A quick summary of my usual method:

1) Cut banner background to the end-size you want, plus an extra inch of width and an extra two inches of length. Fold in half-an-inch and press with a hot steam iron on three sides (the fourth side is the one you will hang it from). Mitre the corners (if you can figure out how; if not, never mind.) Insert a strip of heat-and-bond in between the back of the banner and the folded edge, and iron it into place.

2) I like to line my banners, but we'll skip that step here. It does make the banner hang better and look less make-shift. But it's not necessary and I'll explain it if you want it.

3) On the hanging edge, fold over half an inch, and press. Then fold over an inch and a half, and press again. Stitch along the edge of this fold to form a long rod-pocket. Slide a half-inch dowel (cheap option) or a decorative curtain-rod (snazzy option, available at Fabricland) through the pocket to hang the banner from.

4) Cut heat-and-bond to the size of a sheet of felt and iron it to the felt using very -->LOW<-- heat. Draw or trace the your motif onto the paper backing of the heat-and-bond. (Children can do this, because it's much like drawing on paper, but give them crayons or soft thick pencils to draw with so they don't poke through). Cut out the motif, peel the paper off, and iron it to the banner. Fray-chek around the motif if you didn't use felt.

5) Use the same heat-and-bond technique to add decorative braid around motifs if desired. Add finishing touches if desired in fabric paint.

6) Tie decorative rayon drapery-cord to the two ends of the hanging rod. Use clove-hitches (if you still remember your Girl-scout days; otherwise find a girl-scout) and hot-glue them in place (otherwise they tend to scrunch toward the middle and wrinkle up up your banner between them. I like to leave the cord hanging down the side and finish it with a tassle, but that's un-necessary added complication. Just make sure that when you cut it you either frap the end really well (that's another girl-scout term) or glue-gun the end, because decorative rayon drapery-cord ravels terribly.

For an All-Saints Day banner, with “Saints” decorated by the Sunday-School children to be glued to the banner, do it so:

Go for about 80cm by 120 that's, umm, (reaches for calculator) about 30 by 45 inches. The clerk at the fabric store will help you -- tell her I said table-cloth damask is perfect, but that anything the same weight will do.

Buy:
 - one yard of 45-inch wide fabric
 - one bottle of fray-check
 - one package of heat-and-bond sheets; preferably light-weight, 
   but any weight will do in a pinch. It comes as a 20" roll 
   packaged inside a plastic bag. The clerk may be able to
   help you find an alternative if she doesn't have this. The
   generic name is "fusible adhesive sheets"
 - one sheet (about 8x11) of coloured felt for every two-
   three children, and six sheets for the letters.
 - a cheap cafe-curtain rod, 30" wide
 - a piece of chalk (if you don't have a bucket of the stuff
   already -- sidewalk and blackboard chalk work fine)
 - gluestick
 - a cheap sharp pair of scissors (no, your kitchen shears
   won't cut it -- literally). Cheap ones won't last, but
   you're not doing this every day. Cheap is <$10.
 - 1-1/2 yards of pretty cord.
When you get home:
 - square off the rough edges of the fabric by trimming them
   neatly along the lines of the thread.
 - spread newspaper on the floor, spread the fabric on the
   newspaper, crack open a window, and run a line of fray-
   check right along the cut edges
 - cut a 30" X 1/2" strip of heat-and-bond. Iron it onto the
   back of the very top edge of the banner, and peel off the
   paper. Fold down the top of the banner over the cafe-
   curtain rod, with a little bit of slack, and iron it in
   place (you can use a hotter iron for the second ironing to
   make sure you melt the glue). Leave it in place on the
   ironing board for a minute so the glue cools and hardens.
   Tie the cord to the cafe-rod using whatever kind of knots
   you like.
 - with a piece of chalk, draw the circle where the saints
   will go, and the lines your words will sit on.
 - iron the heat-and-bond onto your pieces of felt. Cut out
   your saints with your cheap sharp scissors.
 - print off "saints on earth and those above" on your
   printer in 310-point Arial Narrow Bold (set the font
   to "outline" so you don't use up all your toner) With a
   glue-stick, glue this *face-down* to the paper backing 
   whichis now attached to the back of the felt you will be 
   using for the letters. The lines will show through (unless 
   you used really heavy printer-paper -- don't do that) Cut
   out the letters with your cheap sharp scissors.
 - peel the paper off the letters, arrange them on the
   banner, and iron them in place.
On Sunday:
 - cover a table with an old wool blanket to use as an ironing
   board. Spread the banner on it.
 - Give the children the saints to decorate (this part is
   up to you -- you're the SS teacher)
 - Leave them to dry a couple minutes while you sing or read
   the lesson
 - arrange them on the banner. Cover them with paper to keep
   the glue, glitter, and other icky stuff from sticking to 
   the iron. One large sheet to cover all will be best. Iron
   them on. Depending on how thick the decorations are, you
   might have trouble getting the heat through to melt the
   glue: in this case turn the banner over carefully after
   the saints are all at least partially attached, and iron
   it from the back.