Short on time and money and want to make coordinated patriotic outfits for your kids? I got you! (And so does the Dollar Tree!)
I am always excited to peruse the Dollar Tree‘s seasonal items. This spring was no different, as they started phasing into stocking 4th of July merchandise.
My eye was instantly caught by these packages of individual swags of bunting. I envisioned using them to make aprons for the girls and capes for the boys. This was all I needed to go into full, red-white-and-blue production!
Let’s start with the focal material: the bunting. They were very creased when I first popped open the cardboard packaging and unfolded them.
I was wary of ironing them, because I knew the plastic material could easily melt. However, I set the iron on a very low setting and hoped for the best.
I thoroughly wet a towel, (using a patriotic one seemed appropriate) wrung it out, and lay it on the ironing board. I placed the bunting on top and started to press.
The damp towel really helped the creases to disappear, and I managed to get most of them out. Nothing terrible happened to the bunting material, either. Whew!
The bunting was quite wet after pressing, but it dried in minutes and was soon ready for the next step: trim! I ransacked my stash of thrifted, vintage lace and found enough to stitch around the bottom edge of each of the three of the pieces of bunting.
Before sewing on a ribbon sash, I removed the three metal grommets that were along the top edge of each piece of bunting. They were very flimsy and came right out with a few twists of the pliers!
Now, I could stitch a ribbon sash onto the top edge of each piece of bunting. I used this red, grosgrain ribbon from my stash.
Stitch, stitch, stitch! I left plenty of extra length at each end for tying a bow.
Here’s a back view of how I stitched on the ribbon sash and the lace trim.
Ta-da! Didn’t it turn out cute? This is seriously one of the easiest and most satisfying things I have made in quite a while. (It’s really fun to use something that’s already cut and prepped.)
What’s better than one cute thing? How about three cute things?
And, here’s the aprons in action!
Emma:
Eliza:
Annika:
Next time, I’ll share how I used the same bunting to make patriotic capes for the boys!
