Communion Banner

Inspiration photo

      I was asked by a client to make a First Communion banner for her son.  She said she had no talent at all regarding sewing or crafting and didn't want to mess it up.  She sent me this photo for inspiration. The size was to be 10" x 15".

Color chart for chalice w/ grapes design

     I searched through my designs but nothing fit so I went to Embroidery Library to find a design.  I found a wonderful chalice with grapes in three sizes.  I bought all three sizes not knowing which would work best.

Templates

      I then printed out the templates for the designs and started auditioning them with the name and date.

Option 1

     I laid out my rulers on my cutting mat to simulate the design area size.  I wanted to make the blue one inch smaller than the background of white to have a border of the white.  The largest one was okay but seemed to overwhelm the wording.

Option 2

     The smallest one looked lost while the middle one seemed just right.  Kind of like Goldilocks :-)

Option 3

     Once I had determined which size I was going to use I then recorded where the center lines were on the piece.  I then transferred these marks to the blue felt which I cut one inch larger than I needed to allow for any possible shrinkage with the stitching.

Markings on felt

     With the placement lines all done I hooped sticky paper and then used the marks to align my fabric in the hoop.  It was done in two hoopings.  The chalice was stitched using my 5" x 7" hoop and the name and date were done using the 7" x 11" hoop.

Beginning stitching the chalice design

     The design used several colors to get the shading on the grapes and chalice.

Stitching complete

     After the stitching was complete I carefully tore any the sticky stabilizer and pressed from the wrong side.  I then used my wavy rotary cutter to trim it to size keeping the design centered.

Finished banner

 

     Then using Rowley's fringe adhesive I applied the blue felt to the background white felt that I had sewn a rod pocket in at the top.  This also served to cover up the stitches from the back.  Now mom and son just have to add the dowel rod and ribbon.