“Pleated” Flag Bunting DIY

To recreate the patriotic feel (or as some say, the anti-imperialistic satire) of my family’s birthday party celebration’s inspiration, Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon), I wanted to sew a “pleated” flag bunting to hang on the food bar. I found and used a simple DIY from Corner of Main to determine my strategy (this being my first ever attempt at making a “pleated” flag bunting). I liked the instructions, but thought the grommets were too fussy for my end-use. I opted to use a simpler technique. See my pics and instructions below!

cut your fabric into 10″ x 30″ rectangles to create roughly an 18″long x 10″ tall “pleated” flag
sew a 1/2″ seam allowance along both long edges
iron your rectangles
using a straight stitch with the longest stitch setting and WITHOUT backstitching, sew a straight line along one long edge (leave a good amount of thread at the beginning and end)
holding one of the threads, slowly pull the thread and push the fabric down to gather it… careful, you don’t want to break your thread
hold the same thread on the opposite side and do the same, keep working this technique until the fabric has been gathered into a semi-circle
tie off each end when the gathering is completed
sew a 1/2″ seam allowance along the short edges (I placed my black rope in the fold of the fabric before I sewed, you can also string the “pleated” flags afterward)
Voilà! Magnifique!

The perfect bunting to give just the right feel to your party!