{Sew Americana} Tour

I have had SO many ideas in my head for Fourth of July for quite a while now, that it was hard for me to choose just one project to feature. Ultimately, I was drawn more to do some crafting instead of sewing...although I did manage to sneak a little sewing in there.

I have always LOVED to decorate for the holidays, however since having kids, it has been quite difficult to keep my house clean enough TO decorate. I don't see a point in making one small little area look pretty when the rest of the house is trashed. I am working on getting the house back in order, but it is a very slow process...and I will be honest and say that it did actually feel good to decorate again...even if it was misplaced on a wall in our bedroom that happens to get good light ;)

I have been known to make a pennant banner...or two...or ten....for holidays and birthdays because they are super quick and easy...and they just look so fun! I also have been dying to make some trim with felt and I am just ecstatic with how everything turned out.

To make the pennant banner, I raided my scraps because it is a perfect scrap-bustin' project. From there I decided how large that I wanted the pennants to be. In this case, I created a template that was 4" wide at the top, with a length of 5". I then used my pinking shear rotary blade and cut about 4 layers at a time. I don't even worry about them being too perfect because it adds to the charm and uniqueness of it. To assemble the banner, the only other supplies that you need are a package of double fold bias tape. I then evenly space out the pennants, sandwich them in between the bias tape, and sew along the edge. With this banner, I decided to add a few felt stars for even more charm...stars everywhere!!!

I feel silly telling you how to make the trim because it is literally just cutting out stars and threading them onto some string. However, I did come across a few things that made things a little tricky and just wanted to give you some tips. So, for the stars I used my nested thin metal star dies that I purchased from Studio Calico last year. These thin dies cut felt PERFECTLY because unfortunately the Silhouette does not cut felt...trust me when I say DO NOT TRY it. Hahaha. I actually put my daughter to work on this and she did a great job cutting them out. It takes a little patience since I only had one die of each size, but it still took less than an hour to cut out 60 stars...20 of each color. I didn't worry about the colors of the blue not matching perfectly either because I think that it adds to the charm as well. I used baker's twine to thread the stars on with a yard darning needle which was literally the HARDEST part. The twine was a bit thicker than I thought so to get it through the felt, proved to be a difficult task. I ended up having to use a piece of one of those grippy jar openers to pull the needle through...and my fingers are dead, but it looks beautiful right??? It was totally worth it.

Lastly, for the jars, I found a photo on Pinterest, however I never could find a tutorial so I had to play it by ear. Lucky for you, I am going to share with you a down and dirty tutorial of how I assembled these. Ultimately I really like the way that they turned out, however I was skeptical along the way. I purchased some tiny dot stickers and stars in the office supply section, as well as red, white and blue paint (I used acrylic, but it is NOT recommended as I discuss below)...the rest of the supplies, I just happened to have on hand but you will also need a fine grit sand paper, masking tape and some matte Modge Podge. I designated the half gallon mason jar for the stars and the two quart size mason jars for the stripes. So, let's get started!!!! Place the small dots and stars on the jars of your choosing. The reason for these stickers is to allow some light to escape if you are going to be using tea lights. If you don't plan on using them as such, you can omit this step. Now you will want to paint each jar white...this is where things got a little tricky for me. The paint wouldn't stick to the glass and every time I touched or tried to paint over it, it would rub off. For this reason I suggest using paint made that is made specifically for glass or applying a quick coat of Modge Podge before you apply the stickers. Next, on the jars that will be striped, you will want to mask off two stripes. Paint those jars red and remove the masking tape. For the stars, I cut out about 12-14 stars (using my thin dies again) from some sticker paper that I had, stuck them to the jar and painted it blue. While the paint was still wet, I removed the stars and I am glad that I did because they were saturated with the paint and didn't come off too well. Once both jars are dry, remove the small dot and star stickers that we put on in step one. You will now want to give the jars a light sanding...however on the raised areas on the jars, I made sure to sand them a little more to completely remove the paint. Lastly, wipe them down to get off all of the dust particles and give each jar a light coat of Modge Podge. This is to ensure that the paint does not chip off. You can now fill them will flowers, sparklers, cake pops, a tealight...whatever your heart desires!!! I would not fill them with food though, as they paint and Modge Podge are not food-safe.

I hope that you enjoyed these fun tutorials for Fourth of July...and make sure to visit all the other bloggers along on the tour. You can also link up anything that YOU have made which is all the way to the end of the post!!!!

Take a look at the AMAZING lineup for the Sew Americana tour!



Monday, June 27 
 
Wild & Wanderful | Sew and Tell Project | Call Ajaire
Paisley Roots | Wally and Grace

Tuesday, June 28
 
Sew Thrifty | Coles Corner and Creations | Rebel & Malice
Friends Stitched Together | The Wholesome Mama

Wednesday, June 29
 
Sewing by Ti | EYMM | HattieLu Handmade
Daydream Believers | PenSebRox | Handmade Boy

Thursday, June 30
 
Beatnik Kids | Phat Quarters | Sew Starly | Sew Sophie Lynn
The Kisses Co. | Adventures with Bubba and Bug
 
Friday, July 1
 
Very Blissful | That's Sew Kari | Sew Happily Ever After | Pear Berry Lane
Mae and K | Musings of a Seamstress | Sew and Tell Project

As a special bonus for our readers, use the code ' SEWAMERICANA ' and enjoy a 20% discount at www.THREADandGRAIN.com  You'll find a ton of maker-inspired goodies!
(All created by your tour guide, Katy, from Wild & Wanderful.)

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