We love to donate our old clothes to charity because it makes us feel so
good! But every once in a while there's a textile that we love so much
we can't say goodbye. While spring cleaning we found this old Blue Sky
skirt that's just too big for us, but we weren't quite ready to get rid
of it yet.
So we're looking at it and trying to think about how to utilize the five
colors, and it hits us...prayer flags! We've been wanting to make
prayer flags with our own hands so they're just that much more special
and this skirt seemed like the perfect item to up-cycle. This tutorial
doesn't involve a sewing machine, all you need is an old
garment, a seam ripper, a ruler, scissors, hot glue and hot glue gun,
and some string. Find a woven cotton garment that you want to use, any
colors and patterns you're drawn to will work. The only thing we
recommend is no stretchy fabrics, so tee-shirts are out. Please note
that it is possible to work with knits, but it's going to require a LOT
more work, so we'd stick with a woven. The most time consuming part of
this project is deconstructing your garment, we watched movies while we
removed our seams over a couple days so it wasn't as overwhelming as
doing it in one sitting.
After you've got your garment deconstructed your next step is to iron
the heck out of your fabric. You want it to be as flat as possible. Once
it's ironed, you can cut out 5" by 5" squares of your fabrics. We did 8
of each color and are going to put them in color order to more closely
resemble traditional prayer flags, but there is room for creativity. We
love the idea of each square being a different print with no rhyme or
reason too. Go with the flow, work with what you already have and
something beautiful is sure to follow.
We have a hard time working in a space that isn't organized, so we like
to set everything out and make it a little easier on ourselves. Grab 5
flags and lay them out in a straight line. Use a ruler to make sure
everything is in order. We like the look of about a 1/2 an inch between
flags. Next pick a yarn or string to use to connect your flags. We used
an 8/2 cotton thread. Give yourself about a yard of slack before you
start. This gives you a bit of leeway when you're hanging up your pretty
new flags.
With your yard of slack hanging out to the left of your first flag,
squirt a dot of hot glue onto the left corner and press the thread to
the left and to the right of the glue so that the thread is smushed in
there securely without you ever having to touch the hot glue. Continue
to do this in the middle of the square as well as the right side of the
square, so that each flag is connected to the string in 3 places. Make
sure that from each dot of glue to the next that your string is taut.
This will help your flags to lay beautifully once they're hung.
Continue all the way down the line. Once you glue the last flag of that
row, move them to left and start another row and continue the process
until all of your squares are gone.
Hang with thumbtacks wherever you please and enjoy your good fortune. To get this look, pair with a Blue Sky tapestry. And yes, that IS a print of Fishman playing a vacuum cleaner on the right. :)
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