Monogram Banners Part I: Assembly

Before Brian even proposed, I had purchased the Martha Stewart Wedding Collector's Edition 2008 magazine. Seriously, I hid the thing in one of my dresser drawers and would bring it out when Brian wasn't home - like a prepubescent boy and a copy of a dirty mag. Now that he has proposed, that poor Martha Stewart magazine has been opened and closed so many times, the spine is weakening.

One of the decorations in the magazine that instantly caught my eye was this adorable monogram banner. I think the blue was the initial (no pun intended) attraction, but then I thought, "I can make that!"


Martha's banners are very large, and she suggested hanging them from trees at an outdoor wedding. I decided to make mini banners (9"x12") and hang them from the center aisle chairs for the ceremony and a couple larger banners (18"x24") to decorate the front of the sweetheart table and the long counter in the reception hall.

An important thing to understand about me, however, is that I can't sew. I can crochet and cross stitch, but if you put a sewing machine in front of me, I'm all thumbs and no brains. How am I going to make these? Enter Mom and Mom #2 (my mom's best friend who is like a second mom to me). OK, I had my workers lined up, but they're in Arizona. Looks like we're making a trip to AZ with some blue fabric and dowels!

I purchased four yards of a beautiful light blue, cotton fabric from JoAnn's for $15.96 and thread for approx. $5.00. I then purchased four 48" wood dowels (7/16" and 1/2" diameter) from OSH for $9.43 and white spray paint for $2.09.

After a few fits and starts to get the tension of the sewing machines correct (during which I stood by looking like a puzzled monkey), Mom and Mom #2 were ready to commence Operation Banner Sweatshop! I first measured, cut, and ironed 10"x13" (9"x12" when complete) rectangles. After expert tutelage from Mom, I then folded over, pinned, and ironed 1/4" then another 1/4" of fabric on both sides for the hem.

Mom and Mom #2 neatly sewed those and returned them to me so I could then make the slots for the dowels across the top and bottom. I folded over, pinned, and ironed 1/4" and then approx. 1 1/2" to make the slot.

After a couple hours, we had our ten mini banners! On to the larger banners...

I measured, cut, and ironed 19"x25.5" (18"x24") rectangles. We repeated the pinning, ironing, sewing assembly line until we had three large banners. Here's one of them.

Once those were done, we started working on the dowels. Brian's oldest brother had previously cut the dowels to length and even bevelled the edges to look more finished. Mom and I tapped nails into the ends with string in order to spray them and later hang for drying, which took about three seconds in the AZ heat.

In my next blog (Part Deux), I will discuss how I devised a less expensive solution to spell out our monograms without spending a fortune on silk flowers.