An easy way to make an embroidered wall banner interchangeable

Yesterday on QUILTsocial I showed how to do wool applique in 7 simple steps with HeatnBond EZ Print Feather Lite iron-on adhesive and Sulky Cotton Petites 12wt  thread. Today I’ll put all these pieces together, embellish them with Crafting Essentials Bottle of Buttons and show you how to use UNIQUE Hook & Loop Sew-On Tape to make the wall banner interchangeable.

Now that my embroidery is finished I’ll use my OLFA RTY-2/DX – Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter and OMNIGRID Ruler – 6″ x 12″  to cut out each word leaving about ½” border of fabric on all sides of the stitching.

Cut out each word using a rotary cutter and ruler.

I’ll now place these fabric rectangles on red wool to enhance their stability. Each wool rectangle will be cut to be ¼” longer and ¼” wider than the fabric pieces with the embroidered words. Using UNIQUE Quilting Clever Clips (small), I’ll secure the two layers together, ensuring the top fabric is centered on the bottom.

Use small clips to hold the two layers together.

I used my sewing machine with a short stitch length to topstitch the fabric rectangles to the wool rectangles with a ⅛” seam allowance. Now I’ll pull away the loose threads within the seam allowance to give each of the rectangles a fringed border.

Pull away the loose threads to make a fringed border.

Here’s a close-up of the embroidered words with the fringed edges. Look how beautiful the stitching is with the different Sulky Cotton Petites 12 Wt. threads.

A close-up of the embroidery with fringed edges

The next step is to arrange all the pieces on the wool background and secure them in place. I’ll achieve this by sewing a small button from my CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons – Pink Tones through the corner of each wool rectangle, extending through to the back of the background. This technique adds a delightful three-dimensional appearance to the banner. The Sulky Cotton Petites 12wt thread works great for this too! I also have a pack of pink heart-shaped Elan Novelty 2-Hole Buttons on hand, so I’ll also sew them on!

Arrange the mounted embroidered words and buttons onto the background and sew them in place.

Now let’s make the front decorative part of the banner interchangeable!

First, I’ll cut 2 sections of UNIQUE Hook & Loop Sew-On Tape about 7″ long, separating the hook sides from the loop sides. I’ve cut a piece of fabric the same size as the wool background and now I’ll sew the sections of hook tape to the top and bottom of the right side of the fabric, positioning them about ½” from the edges of the fabric.

Next, I’ll lay this fabric section beside the black quilted background, centering it top to bottom making sure to align the loop parts of the tape on the quilted background so that they match up to the hook sections on the fabric.

Place the hook and loop sections on the right side of the backing fabric and the front of the black quilted banner.

The next step is to sew the loop sections to the quilted background making sure that the hanging sleeve doesn’t get caught in the stitching. Then hand stitch the folded edge of the hanging sleeve the same way I showed you on Monday.

And now for the very last step! Spray the back of the wool background with Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray and then place the fabric rectangle on its back side down, lining up all of the edges of both fabrics.

Use a UNIQUE Sewing Chenille Needle and Sulky Cotton Petites 12 Wt. thread to blanket stitch all the way around, hiding the knots in between the two layers of fabric.

Blanket stitch around the entire edge to secure the backing.

Now that the blanket stitching is done, it’s time to put your masterpiece on display! I have a cute little stand to hang it on, but it could also be easily displayed on the wall by sliding a small dowel through the sleeve and resting the ends of the dowel on two nails.

The completed Valentine’s Day banner.

Thank you for joining me this week. It’s been fun playing with all these great products! I especially loved trying out the Odif OdiShine Glitter Gel the DMC Embroidery Transfer Paper and the Sulky Cotton Petites 12wt thread – those variegated threads just make me swoon!! See you in a few months.

This is part 5 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 4: 7 simple steps to lovely wool applique | A Valentine’s Day banner

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