- 1). Cut two pieces of fabric approximately 3 feet wide by 5 feet long. You can make banners any size, but this is a good size to start with---large enough to be easily seen throughout the sanctuary and small enough to work with easily. One of these pieces will be the background for your banner and the other will be the backing.
- 2). Sketch your design on a piece of paper. Use large, graphic images and simple lettering. The simplest banners feature a single, central image and a few words. One word phrases such as Peace, Rejoice or Pray work well for worship banners. Your image can be from nature---a rainbow, the sun, a grape vine---or a spiritual symbol such as a cross, lamb or crown.
- 3). Choose the fabric for your lettering and image. Your sketch should give you an idea of the proportions for your worship banner. Look through your scraps of fabric for pieces large enough for the central image and lettering. Choose bright, solid or almost solid fabrics for the image. Choose dark solid colors for the lettering. Black, dark blue and purple letters will be easy to read from across the room.
- 4). Iron the fusible webbing onto the wrong side of your fabric. Use a wool setting and iron for 10 to 20 seconds to adhere the webbing to the fabric.
- 5). Draw the letters and the components of the images onto the paper backing of your fusible webbing. The image you draw will be reversed when you iron the fabric onto the banner, so you'll need to keep this in mind. You may find it easier to draw the letters right side up on plain paper, cut them out and use these patterns to trace the letters onto the fusible webbing paper.
- 6). Cut out all your letters and images.
- 7). Arrange the letters and images on your banner. When you're satisfied with how everything looks, carefully peel off the paper backing and lay the pieces back onto the banner. Pin them in place.
- 8). Preheat the iron to the wool setting. Iron the pieces onto the banner. Run the hot iron over each fabric piece for 10 to 20 seconds.
- 9). Thread the sewing machine with black thread and set the stitch selector to a zig zag or satin stitch. Choose the widest stitch width. Sew around each image or letter, covering the edge of each piece.
- 10
Lay the backing piece face down on top of your banner. Sew a ½ inch seam up both long sides and across the top of the banner. Turn the banner right side out and press. - 11
Turn the raw edges at the bottom of the banner to the inside and press. Sew the fringe to the bottom of the banner. - 12
Fold down the top 4 inches of the top of the banner to the back. Pin and press into place. Sew a line of stitching 1 inch from the top. Sew a second row of stitching two inches below the first. This will form a pocket for the dowel to slip through. - 13
Insert the dowel in the pocket you made. Tie the one end of the cord to each end of the dowel. Your banner is ready to hang.
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