Winter Fox Banner

Hi! My name is Candy Spiegel. I am a paper-craft instructor and designer in Michigan. When my friend showed me some of the new fabrics offered from Love My Fabrics, I fell in love -- literally. I told her I wished it was paper so I could play with it (I cannot sew). She assured me that I could do something with it -- even if that meant ironing it together. And, to prove her point, she sent me a square to play with and asked me to be a guest designer.

I loved this fabric even more in person. So much so that I bought an old sewing machine at Goodwill and asked another friend to teach me how to sew so I could make this banner.

I started by tracing a chipboard template with a Sharpie onto the fabric, some muslin and fusible interfacing. I then ironed the fabric onto the interfacing.

Then, I sewed the muslin on the back. It took me a few tries to get my lines straight and I need more practice to get the edges even, but for my first try, I was pretty impressed.

After the pieces were sewn together, I folded over the top and stitched it to create a pocket for the string to go through.

Finally, I frayed the edges. I was impressed that not one string came off of the fabric while cutting, ironing or sewing it, but I was easily able to use my finger to fray the edges when I was ready.

I did not want to cover the foxes, so I left my panels plain -- letting the foxes speak for themselves.

I taped the end of the twine to a skewer and used that to feed the twine through the little pockets I made. In between each panel, I placed a button or some dangling beads.

I love my little fox banner and am looking forward to purchasing more fabric from Love My Fabrics to continue to practice my new love of sewing!

Thank you for sharing my first attempt at sewing with me. Visit my blog at candyscraps.com to see what else I am learning.