Lazy Woman's Fabric Banner: Part One

I'm still working on sprucing up my house for Valentine's Day Bunco next week. Today's project is a "Love" fabric banner and I thought I'd share directions here for doing it the lazy woman's way. Once you read the tutorial, you'll see how easy it is to make and you'll think I was silly for even documenting the process. But some of my readers are scrapbookers, not seamstresses and I'm hoping this will be a good tutorial for them that requires just the most basic sewing skills.

Materials:
Fabric for letters and fabric for pendants
Bias tape (or make your own)
Cricut
Pendant template
Scissors
Heat n Bond

Step 1

Cut strips of your letter fabric the appropriate width for your Cricut. Iron heat n bond on the back of the fabric and then apply to cutting mat. Cut letters using Cricut. I had a blade depth of 6, speed 2, and pressure 5. Also, I've found that it doesn't cut well close to the edge so I come in and down a little on my fabric and then start cutting. Of course, if you don't have a Cricut, you can cut your letters by hand but I'm too lazy for that.

Step 2

Gently peel fabric off mat. There may be a few threads still attached at the corners or turns so have scissors nearby to snip anything that's still hanging on. Your fabric edges may look rough but don't worry, it's really not noticeable once the letters are ironed on.


Step 3

Trace and cut out pendants (or other shape).


Step 4

Line up your backgrounds and layout letters just slightly below center to account for the bias tape at the top. Don't measure, you're supposed to be lazy about this.

Step 5

Iron in place. Come back tomorrow to see how to make the bias tape and sew it all together.