DIY: Handmade Banner Tutorial

On Saturday I'll be selling my knits at this craft fair in Shawnee, Kansas, and so I've been doing a few last minute display preparations this week. The first one I'm sharing is this handmade banner with my shop name. You can use the steps below to make a similar banner for your shop at a craft show, or to make a banner for a birthday party or other event! Read on to see how easy (and inexpensive!) it is...


I was so excited to make this sign, mostly because I did not love the sign I'd used for my last two shows. I had tried to paint my shop name and it hadn't worked out very well. I can't even bring myself to show it to you, because it looks like a five-year-old made it. Actually, that might be an insult to the art skills of five-year-olds.

Anyway, I wanted a more professional looking sign, and one that would last, but I didn't want to pay a lot of money for it. Doing craft fairs can really start to add up if you pay other people to design your set-up. So, iron on transfers were the answer. The total cost of the supplies for my sign came out to under $10 -- not counting tools like the iron and sewing machine of course!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

-Half yard of canvas

-Iron on transfers (I used 4)

-Your computer & inkjet printer

-Iron

-Pinking shears

-Sewing machine or quick sewing fingers for hemming

-Any adornments you'd like for decorating your banner

THE STEPS:

1) First, I ironed out any folds in my canvas. To do the lettering for my shop name, I used the same steps as the iron-on transfer tutorial for my DIY Tote Bag Project. I used a total of 4 transfers (1 for "megan," 1 for "E sass," 1 for "hand" and 1 for "knits") -- you can use more or fewer depending on how big you want the lettering and how many words you have.

(P.S. I've read that one way to help develop your brand is to be consistent with your use of fonts, colors, logos, etc. So this is the same font as I use for my Etsy banner, my blog banner, and even the type on my color swatches.)

2) Once the lettering was finished, I used the iron to press down where I wanted to hem the edges of the canvas.

3) I used a pair of pinking shears to trim down the extra fabric on the other side so that it wouldn't fray.

4) Next, I sewed these edges with my sewing machine. I got into a fight with the bobbin, but we worked it out, and I finished up.

5) Lastly, I took the only part of my former sign that I had liked -- these crocheted flowers I made -- and sewed them to the banner. I sketched out a couple of leaves on each one as well. I'd like to sew a knit leaf or two over the sketches instead, but I may not have time to make these before Saturday. We'll see!

So there's my new sign! I'm very happy with it, since it's leaps and bounds better than the old one. It still needs a little more ironing, but I couldn't wait to post this tutorial. Also, the banner isn't perfect, mostly because I'm not the best at using my sewing machine... but hopefully visitors to my booth are more focused on my knitting abilities than my hemming abilities :)

This is an outdoor festival, and I'm using a canopy, so I plan to attach my sign directly to the front of it. I'll post pictures next week after the show is done!

Stay tuned later this week for another craft show display DIY!

-Megan