Happy Halloween Banners

Happy Halloween Everyone! I hope everyone is having a fantastically spooky Halloween day. I am loving watching all the costumes on facebook stroll in. What fun! I’m in Arkansas for a meeting today so, I’ll be sitting this Halloween day on the sidelines. Don’t worry, though, my Halloween fun was had this weekend, I’ll post about that later. Today though, I wanted to share my Halloween decorating adventures.

Fall this morning... its coming to an end soon! Now THAT is scary. WARNING: Minnesota winter ahead!

I wanted to decorate my door this Halloween as I have this great porch on the first floor of my apartment complex. I was inspired by the fabric pendant banners that I have been seeing, so, I thought… that’s it. Off to Joann’s and Voila… Halloween excitement!

Below I have a guide as to how I made the banner. It’s such a fun quick project with big impact. I have already made an LSU banner and hope to make one for Christmas. I think they bring ‘celebration’ to a room. What do you think?

Final touches for the ‘door scape’ kindly came from my bestie, Jen. For the extra pieces, I have a caldron with black netting creating a smoke affect, broom for a witchy escape, pumpkin baskets, and wreath. I ran into a slight problem as my wreath hanger is nicely in storage in New Orleans. I didn’t want to go to the store again, so I decided to try something new. Eight inches of black polka dot fabric created such a cute hanger! I like so much better than a boring metal one.

Come on in, deary.

Beware upon entering! Creative souls are inside.

Enjoy the tutorial! I would love to see what y’all create!

Happy Creating!

Materials to make 4 banners:

-          30 inches for the fabric ribbon using 45” fabric

-          ½ yd of each fabric for you triangles; 5 different fabrics

First step, let’s make the fabric ribbon. Your fabric will be 45 inches long. On the fold, cut 12 strips of 2.5 inches. You will then sew the three strips to create one long strip. We will create the ribbon by ironing the long piece 4 times. This part is actually pretty relaxing. I can’t believe I’m saying that about ironing! Yikes. First, fold it in half to create a crease in the middle. Then you will fold the bottom half to the center crease. Now do the same to the top, ironing the top piece to the center crease. Fold together and iron to create the fabric ribbon for your banner! Easy peasy, just a little time consuming.

Fold in half, Iron.

Open, fold bottom to center crease.

Fold top to center crease.

Fold to in half and iron. You now have fabric ribbon.

So, now for our banners. I found 5 cute Halloween fabrics from Joann’s; a half yard each. The top of the banner triangle is 7 inches long. Each triangle is 9 inches tall. On the folded side, draw a line at 9 inches and 18 inches. Along the side, measure 7 inches. You will have 5 triangles for each row, or 10 triangles per 18 inches. 5 fabrics times 10= 50 triangles. 12 triangles per banner makes you 4 banners, even.

Fun Halloween fabrics! Half a yard each.



Now cut your triangles. You can do this one of two ways. I use a rotary blade and ruler which is accurate and fast. OR, you can use scissors if you don’t have a rotary blade.



Cut lines added.



After all your triangles are cut, we will sew them all together. I like to use a zig-zag stitch. I think it adds an extra element. Your two sides will already be together because when you cut the triangles it was on the fold. I don’t like to use pins for this project, I just hold them together with my fingers and sew. You have 50 triangles to sew, so this just speeds things along.





YAY! You now have 50 triangles sewn. We will place the triangles in the fabric ribbon interior. Find the middle of the ribbon and put a triangle on either side. You will have 6 to the left of the center and 6 to the right of the center to create an even banner. Pin each triangle in the center of the ribbon fold and sew the fabric ribbon closed from end to end. This will create the banner and is your official last step!





Pin then sew!



Sew triangles inside of your fabric ribbon



Step back and enjoy your creation! I’m sure you’ll be hanging it up immediately! J







Geaux Tigers!



Back to Basics

Hello family and friends! 

Welcome to the start of my next adventure in life, "Sew Lovely". Sew Lovely blog is the very humble start to what I plan to build into a fabric store and sewing studio. I want to bring my love for fabric and creating to you so that you too, can create.

I hope you enjoy reading about the new projects I have set aside for the past few years and have been building in my creative pool. Really it’s an extension or continuation of a previous adventure my sister and I started 5 years ago, called “Goosey Bear”. 

Kaya and Lucia in an Aunt Jenny creation, designed by their creative mom, Kate

Goosey Bear was affectionately named after my two youngest nieces, Kaya ‘Bear’ and Lucia Carmen who we called Goose. Our store could not have been more appropriately named as this was the driving force of inspiration behind our designs. Our days and nights revolved around making the idea of Goosey Bear get off the ground and that is just what we did. Our last show was a huge success at the Baton Rouge Junior League’s Holly Days. However, the biggest success of GB was the opportunity for my sister and I to build and grow a lifelong bond. 

Aunt Jenny and Lucy making some burp cloths!! Lucy is the best helper!

Little did Kate and I know at the time, but shortly after our successful show, both her and I would start a new journey through our ‘day time jobs’ that would take Kate and her family to Grand Caymen for four years and myself to Memphis and then Minneapolis. Our optimistic plans of continuing GB as we moved to different cities was put to the side as our careers and families began to flourish. Its hard to believe that we have totes and totes of beautiful, soft burps, bibs, blankets and more, sitting in tubs in our dad’s office. We like to affectionately go up to the storage room (when back home in N.O) just to look and feel our product. It pains both of us to just have it sitting there. 

Hopefully, as we begin to move back home, we will be able to pick where we left off. It’s fun to still, 5 years later, see our customers get excited about our products. 

With this blog, I am hoping to journal my entrance back into the sewing world. It’s been several years since I’ve let my creative side unleashed. I miss her. It’s hard to believe that my sewing machine has been in my closet for 6 months now. How does that happen?!!  It’s time to regroup and get back to it. I hope that you enjoy reading and I even more so hope that I inspire you to try some of these projects on your own.

Happy creating!