No Sew Garden Flag (long tutorial and lots of pictures)

So, I was sitting in my living room, listening to the lovely afternoon thunderstorms and I suddenly got the CRAFT ITCH. I didn't know what I wanted to craft up but I wanted to do something. The satellite had already gone out and King Bee was snoring to the rhythm of the thunder. I walked out onto the front porch to put my flowers out to get some of this FREE water and....... BAM! There it was. A sun-bleached, ratted old, seen better days Garden Flag. I took it inside and got to work.

Searching thru the Sweat Shop, I found enough fabric in my stash to recover the rocker pillows and whip up a new flag. Whoooo-Hooooo!

 First I started with the flag.I took the old one and used it as a template, since I liked the shape of it. I also added 2" to the top for the fold-over that will become the rod pocket.

 Then I took it to my temporary ironing station and applied my MAGIC....HEAT BOND!! (I love this stuff!) I applied a strip down each side and a few pieces in the middle of the backside of one of the pieces I cut and then I placed the other piece right side up onto the backside with the HEAT BOND and applied the iron to fuse them together. Once that was done, I applied a strip to the top of the fabric and folded it down and made the rod pocket.

 Once it was a flag, I trimmed up the sides to appease my OCD.

I knew I wanted to put the dreaded "D" on it but the more I looked at it, it was goona need something more......

Ohhhh! I know. I could do a trim around the edge with fabric paint. BUT...hmmmm...how was I gonna get that straight?? DING, DING, DING...the old wax paper trick! (Stay with me here....you will be glad you did!) I rolled out the wax paper and lined it up with the edge of the fabric, leaving about 1/2 inch fabric showing...all the way around.

 Once I got it right where I wanted it (and as even as I could on all sides), I took it back to the ironing station and, with the iron on a low setting, ironed the wax paper onto the fabric. In case you didn't know, wax paper makes an AWESOME stencil.

I got my fabric paint and foam brush out and painted the edges. This turned out to be a great fix for the fraying edges.

 Since I am one for instant gratification, I did not wait as the directions on the fabric paint bottle says. I yanked the wax paper stencil off to reap my rewards...... OOPS...some of the paint ran...

The I repeated the wax paper steps with the "D" I cut with my Cricut........ Then iron.

Run it back to the Sweat Shop.

Paint.

Peel.

V'iola!!! I L.O.V.E it so much!!!!

Then I set it by the fan while I started on my pillows.

I went to the porch to grab the dirty pillows and brought them upstairs to dismantle. There were a million safety pins holding the fabric on. (again....I don't sew!!) Plus, this way, I can throw the fabric in the wash and use it for something else.

 

I found where the front of the pillow would end up and marked the space. I wanted to paint the fabric BEFORE I wrapped the pillows in it so the paint wouldn't bleed thru.

 I began the whole wax paper stencil iron-on method again......Here are the next 15 minutes of my life:

 

 

 

 

 Once the painted had dried, I flipped the fabric over and wrapped the pillows like a present.

Using all those safety pins as my "tape".

And there you have 'em. I love how easy this was!

 

 I gathered my pillows, flag, camera and diet coke and headed back to the front porch. Of course, as soon as I opened the door, I realized my neighbors were out again.....and for a brief second, I thought about waiting for them to go inside. I know they think I'm the crazy camera lady that takes pictures of EVERYTHING she does..... but I pressed on. There was another storm coming.

 

 

 

 

There you have it. A new NO-SEW FRONT PORCH ENSEMBLE.