Dabble in the Double

Double-sided fusible interfacing...

Don't you think that's the most terrifying string of words ever?  I found it very intimidating when I first read that in a sewing pattern somewhere.  I was all, what the devil is that, for heaven's sake?!  And where the blunkers do you get it from?!

Well, you can get the stuff in most haberdashers, to be honest.  It's quite hard to explain why this stuff is handy, because it's a bit like explaining the benefits of glue.
"Glue rocks.  Coz it's really sticky and sticks things together."
No kidding.

So, enough of that.  Here's a handy, or rather hearty, tutorial to get you off to a flying start with the wonders of Double-Sided Fusible Interfacing.  You don't need the stiff stuff, or even the light fabric stuff - you need the stuff that looks like paper. 



Right.  Gimme a list of stuff I need to forage for.
1m of lightweight Double-Sided Fusible Interfacing
Lots of pretty strips and scraps and scrippy scrappy bits of fabric, motifs from old clothes etc
Larger fabric triangles, approx 7" sided
Card Templates of hearts, or little birds, or whatever shape you'd like on your bunting
Pinking shears if you have them
Iron and Ironing Board
Sewing machine and threads, optional

1. Start by sorting through lots of lovely bits of fabric and iron them all.  Or even, don't bother ironing them.  My mum wouldn't.  She says she never irons anything before she sews it.  Shocking!
2. Cut a piece of dsfi, say 8"x14", although it doesn't really matter.  We wanted to make loooooooads of hearts for our bunting, but once you have a project in mind - you decide.

3. Now arrange and then iron the fabrics onto the dsfi with a cotton hot iron.  I'd advise laying some old bit of cloth on top, so that if any cheeky dsfi is exposed, your iron won't touch it and get goo on. 

4. Choose your template and draw round it on the reverse of your ironed fabric scraps.  Don't throw away any bits left over - keep every last bit; I'll show you what you can do with the tiny scraps later

5. Cut out, and carefully peel away the waxy paper.  This will be quite flimsy, so have your bunting triangles handy, ready to place your shape onto, the mesh-like sticky stuff facing down

6. Iron onto the bunting triangles
7. Now the fun part - find a really bright contrasting thread - or black, which looks amazingly effective with pastels and pretty cottons, and zigzag stitch along all the fabric joins, and round your shape.  Oh my word how great does that look?! But hey - if you don't have a sewing machine, look at the hearts above - they weren't stitched along the joins - you could just iron them onto your fabric triangles. 

8. Once you've done them all, stitch lots of torn scruffy strips of fabric about 1" wide together, and using zigzag stitch sew your bunting triangles to the wrong sides of the strip.

What I'm saying is, I suppose, be creative - it might be hearts on bunting, or these lovely birds, which I'm actually going to turn into little Bannister Birds - two stitched together with a ribbon out the top, and stuffed with old tiny scraps of fluff, and hung from my bannisters.
Or, and here's what you do with all those little leftover bits of ready-dfsi'd fabrics - make card art.  Give as cards, with a message inside telling the recipient to get a frame and stick it in!
Or even, do that yourself.
It's just that I was too lazy, so I made it into a birthday card for a dear friend, and told her she could find the bleedin' frame for herself.  Nice aren't I?
Ahem.
And on that note - I'm on holiday for a week!  We are going to sunny Devon, to frolic in waves and lick ice-creams and eat lashings of scones and cream and drink multiple cups of tea and then have fish and chips by the sea....
Save you some, I promise.