Racing Rosettes

It's fun to collect pin badges, rosettes, charity pins and brooches. Don't hide them away in a cupboard or drawer. Make a hanging badge banner for your bedroom or playroom and display your badge collection for all your friends to see! You could also sew on other badges too.

The banner is about 90cm (36in) long and about 45cm (18in) wide. You can make yours longer or shorter if you wish.

We used Makower fabrics for the banners. Makower have lots of lovely picture labels and theme fabrics to choose from for boys and girls (and even for grown-ups), such as pets, flowers, zoo, farm and forest animals, party, seaside, teddies, owls, sewing and lots more. Alternatively, raid a stash at home or cut up clothes you are now too big for.

Horse Banner

1. Cut the horse border fat quarter into three pieces 45cm (19 1/2in) wide and 18cm (7in) high.Cut along the striped poles between designs, making sure that each piece has two complete horse borders across it. Cut two strips of plank fabric 45cm (19 1/2in)wide and 12 cm (4 3/4in) high. Keep the rest of the plank fabric for step4 .
2. Start with a horse border piece at the top. Sew a plank strip underneath. Sew another horse border on the bottom and then another plank strip. Sew the last horse border onto the bottom of the banner. Make sure they are all the right way up. Press your banner and trim so it is 72cm (28in) long.
   
   Figure 1: Sew up the side, across the top and down the other side
3. Cut a backing piece 45cm (19 1/2in) wide and 72cm (28in) high from rosettes fabric, or sew two fat quarters together. Pin your banner on top of the backing, right sides together and matching the edges. Sew the two long sides only. Turn right side out and press. Take the pins out. Turn the top and bottom hems of your banner under by about 1.25cm (1/2in) and press .
4. Cut eight 9.5cm (3 3/4in) squares of plank fabric. Cut out eight gymkhana labels with a little border around. so each one is 9.5cm (3 3/4in) square. Choose four horse pictures for the top. Pin a horse picture and a plank square right sides together.
5. With a 6mm(1/4in) seam allowance, sew up one side of the picture, across the top and down the other side. Leave the bottom open. Make four the same.Turn right side out and ask a helper to press them for you. Slip the open edge of the pictures inside the top hem and pin, spacing them evenly. Sew across the top hem to hold the pictures in place.
   
   Figure 2: Tuck the raw edges inside the hem
6. Next, slide the wadding inside the banner. The wadding should lie flat inside.If it is too long or too wide, trim a little bit off. Pin it in place. Choose your bottom four horse pictures. Pin a horse picture and a plank square right sides together. With a 6mm (1/4in) seam allowance, sew down one side of the picture, across the bottom and up the other side. Leave the top open this time. Make four the same. Turn right side out and press.
7. Now slip the open edge of the bottom four horse pictures inside the bottom hem and pin, spacing them evenly. Sew across the bottom hem to hold the pictures in place. Take out all the pins. To quilt your banner, sew a line of stitching down each side and sew a line of stitching across and between each section. Your banner is nearly finished!
8. To make the hanging loops, cut four pieces of brown felt 6 x 23cm (2 1/2 x 9in) and fold in half. Pin them to the back of the too horse pictures, with the fold sticking up about 2 .5cm (1in) above the top. Sew across the top and bottom of each horse picture, to hold the felt in place at the back. Hang your banner up with a thin rod. Well done!

Helpers' Note

You can use a piece of dowelling or net curtain rod for the hanging pole. We used a riding crop to hang our horse banner at the stables!

First published in Popular Patchwork March 2008