Permanent Papel Picado Banner

I am working on spiffing up my art show display table for the Tucson Open Studio Tour on November 10 & 11.  So I made a table cover and it was missing something.  Well being that it is the time of year for Dia de Los Muertos, I was inspired by the tissue paper cut-out banners. I wanted the same festive look, but a little more enduring.  Here is what I came up with:

Supplies & tools:

Cotton fabric & thread

Sew in interfacing

Paper (I used just printing paper, but water soluble water would have been better)

Cord (I used clothesline rope)

Sewing machine

1 - I drew out a pattern on the paper, remember it's supposed to look like a cut-out so you need to think of shapes that wouldn't fall out if cut out. Also, they tend to be symmetrical as if they were cut out of folds.

2 - I then sandwiched four layers: the bottom/back layer, the interfacing, the "hole" layer, then the top fabric layer and finally the pattern.

3 - I cut around the paper, leaving a flap from the top fabric layer, that would fold over to create the tube to run the cord through.

I folder this over to the back before I stitched all the way around.

4 - I then sewed around the whole paper about 1/4 of an inch inside.

Sewing along the paper, with the top fabric layer folded under to create the tube.

5 - Next I sewed on the pattern, following my lines as best I could.  I sometimes needed to use free stitching, by dropping the feed dogs and removing the sewing foot. This takes some practice, but I have done it enough when quilting, though I am not a pro.

6 - Remove as much of the paper as possible by soaking it in the sink.

7 -  I then washed it in the washing machine to try to remove all the paper.  Not all of the paper came off, it's especially noticable on the darker fabric.  Water-soluble paper would work better.

8 - Then I carefully cut out the top layer (the yellow in this case), inside all the sewing shapes.

Here is the finished banner:

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