swag bunting DIY - part one

Want to make your own swag bunting?  It is easier than you think.  Ready, OK.  I was dreaming about gorgeous swag bunting last week on my pretend super awesome porch. I remembered that I just ordered some grey and white awning stripe fabric. It’s Two by Two by Michael Miller and I had found it while searching for the red and white carnival/circus theme fabrics for Ms. Emily. I thought I would make small buntings on a garland. Of course, I am obsessed with fabric way more than my obsession with paper, because fabric has so many more options, and it is soft and will NOT give me a paper cut. I choose to make this swag from fabric.


What do I need?

~one yard of your fave fabric
~iron on interfacing
~rotary cutters, straight edge and pinking
~cutting board
~bias tape

~needle and thread

Take your washed and ironed fabric and lay it out on a cutting board. I folded it in half for easier cutting. Cut 6” strips with straight edge rotary cutter. I followed the stripes line so that it would line up later on.

Place one strip, right side down on your ironing board. Cut interfacing into 6” by 36” sized strips.

Following the directions on the interfacing, place the rough side down on top of fabric strip. Iron, let cool, and remove the paper backing. Place your second fabric strip on top, wrong side down, lining up the edges (and stripes/patterns if necessary,) and iron. Now you have one stiffened strip of fabric. Perfect.

Place fabric strip on cutting board and trim both short ends with straight edge rotary cutter. Trim both long edges with the pinking edge rotary cutter.

Now fold, starting at one short end about ½ to ¾, in accordion style, down the entire length of the fabric strip. Press hard, you want crisp fold line.

It takes a while, a long while...

YAY! Now take thread a needle and stitch close to the top edge of the fabric strip, about in the middle of each fold. NOTE: at the first stitch and last stitch, make sure to make needle entry point very close to fold line.

Once you are through the entire strip, pull (gathering fabric) and stitch closed.

It should now look like a swag shape.

Take your bias tape and attach it to the top edges of the swag. The swag edges will be inside, with the bias tape on the outside.

Pin (or clothespin, sorry I got lazy) it in place. Sew a straight stitch along the length of the bias tape where the swag is attached.

Make one, three, five or as many as you like. There are a ton of options. To make them smaller, cut the width of the strip thinner and the length of the strip shorter.

The possibilities are endless. Part two of this will show an accordion star and variations on the swag design.