Hi friends! It was my intention to make a tutorial for how I finished my Black Cat Season banner. But then I wasn't a huge fan of how I did the top! However I realize some might still want to know how to finish a simple banner like this, so here are the steps I followed.
After completely ironing and squaring up your finished piece, you'll want to measure the width of your stitching against the width of your hanger to see how much "extra" room you might have on the sides. If you are using my Black Cat Season Bell Pull, you'll want your finished banner to be no wider than 4.25 inches.
Please note my model is stitched on 32 count linen. If you chose a different fabric, your measurements will need to be different.
My stitching was 3 inches wide on 32 count. I decided to cut the vertical edges of my stitching with a 5/8 allowance from the edge of the stitching. For my top margin, I left 2 inches. For my bottom margin, I left 1.25".
I then cut strips of cotton quilting fabric that were 1 inch wide and sewed them down the sides (right sides of stitching and fabric together) using a 1/4" seam allowance. I did the same on the bottom. I didn't do anything on the top. I ironed back the strips. That prepared my top piece.
For my background piece, I cut out another piece of the same cotton quilting fabric the same size as my front piece, leaving an extra 2.75 inches on the top, making it longer than my stitching.
I laid my pieces right sides together and ironed around the side, bottom, and other side. I did not sew across the top, but left it open for turning.
I turned the piece inside out and ironed again. If you have a thick arm a long pair of tongs will help out!
After your piece is nice and wrinkle-free, you can zig zag your top line of linen to the backing I then folded the polkadot fabric forward twice to make a pocket for the bell pull rod. I sewed across the top seam with a straight stitch.
I know a quilter or finisher probably would have done the top differently, but it worked out for me!