Party Bunting Tutorial
makes 192” (5-1/3 yards) of bunting, plus tails
materials needed:
6 fat quarters (1/4 yard cuts will also work)
6-2/3 yards of 1½” wide grosgrain ribbon or bias binding
thread to match your ribbon/bias binding
4 yards of 12” wide Lite Steam a Seam (or 2 yards if 18” wide)
rotary cutter with pinking or scallop blade, or pinking shears (These blades are awesome and can simply be put into your 45mm rotary cutter.)
bunting template, which you can download here
instructions
1. With wrong sides together, fold a fat quarter in half lengthwise (or fold a skinny 1/4 in half across the short side) so that it’s 9” x 22” and cut a piece of Lite Steam a Seam the same size. Follow Steam a Seam instructions to fuse the two sides together. Repeat for all fat quarters
2. Cut 4 triangles from each folded and fused fat quarter using the triangle template. Reverse the triangle each time you cut so they are nested and you get as few scraps are possible. You can lay your cutting ruler right over the template, lining up the edges, and cut with your rotary cutter. There is no need to cut the tops of the triangles with the pinking blade as that edge will be hidden in the ribbon.
With the scallop blade you’re edges will look like this:
With the pinking blade you’ll get edges like this:
3. Arrange your triangles in the order you want, or just pluck them in random order as you sew. (Laying them on a big ruler after cutting makes them easier to carry over to the sewing machine.)
Leave the first 2 feet of ribbon loose, then fold it in half around the top of the first triangle. Back-stitch at the beginning and sew 1/4” to 1/8” away from the edge of the ribbon covering the fabric, catching the triangle inside the folded ribbon, and being sure to catch the ribbon on both sides. 
You may wish to pin the ribbon over the triangle first before you sew each one to make sure that the ribbon is folded exactly in half around it.
I actually found it unnecessary to pin and just pinched the ribbon in half at the end of the triangle and held it in place, which worked just fine. You may also want to hold the ribbon from the back side of the presser foot as well to keep it taught and unable to shift, just be sure not to push or pull the fabric. (Notice the reverse scallop cut on this one, which is called a peak edge.)
Continue sewing each triangle inside the ribbon, leaving no space between triangles. Back-stitch at the end. You may choose to sew the ribbon in half all the way to the ends, but I didn’t.
4. Hang your bunting and party!
notes: You probably don’t want to wash your bunting since the triangles aren’t sewn around all edges. Chances are you’ll feel like making a new one before you’d ever need to wash it anyway. Try adding applique letters to spell out “Happy Spring” or a child’s name, mixing sizes of triangles, or making a mini bunting with your scraps.
