How to Upcycle Fabric Scraps into Festival Bunting

This How to Guide for making no sew festival bunting out of scrap fabric was provided by Amanda Dannells-Bewley of Bewley’s Bunting Emporium.

Amanada makes bunting to buy or rent and also gives local workshops about how to make various kinds of bunting. This festival bunting method is one of the most fun ways to make your own bunting and it’s also cheap & eco-friendly!

Amanda shows us two versions of this bunting below – Festival Tassle Bunting and Mini-Festival Bunting. Enjoy!

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How to make easy no sew tassel bunting for your festival campsite or summer party!

Nothing says celebrations like bunting and at Bewley’s Bunting Emporium we are on a mission to get any party or festivities going!

It is a shocking fact that, in the UK, nearly half of us put unwanted clothes in the dustbin!

Festival Tassles

Materials Needed:

To make 3 metres of festival tassles bunting you will need –

• 3m of cotton 3cm wide tape 
• Around 120 Scrap material pieces at least 40cm wide bed linen, old shirts or dresses are ideal
• Around 20-30 Ribbon or material pieces 20cm x 2cm
• Fabric glue – optional

Festival Tassle Bunting uses scraps, unwanted shirts or bed linen and is an ideal recycling project for community groups.

You can embellish your bunting with ribbons or buttons, making it as colourful and eye-catching as you want. 

That is why we love making decorative bunting out of nearly anything: old sheets, clothes or curtains. These two tassle bunting projects recycle and reuse fabrics and materials that may have gone to landfill and being no-sew means they are quick and easy for everyone to do.

Once hung your tassle bunting will dance and flutter in the breeze creating an eye-catching decoration at festivals or summer camps.

You could hang your bunting in the garden for the summer, in the children’s bedrooms or at your next big celebration!

Before you start, gather your old unwanted fabric and lay your materials out and decide on the colourways you would like to use.

Step 1: Make your fabric into strips

Take your cloth pieces and fold your fabric in half so the two shorter sides meet. Then cut your fabric into strips about 2.5cm wide and 40cm long.

Step 2: Tie your fabric on

Take three or four fabric strips and fold them in half.

Tie them onto the tape. Use the smaller fabric scraps or ribbons to tightly secure the tassles by making a knot (or double knot) near the top of each tassle.

Step 3: Repeat

Repeat until you have 20 to 30 tassels at 10-12cm distance apart or until your tape is a full of tassels.

Allow 25cm at each end of your tape for hanging.

You may want to dab a small blob of fabric glue on each tassle to keep it in place but this is optional.

Hang your bunting and get your party started!

Easy Peasy Mini Festival Bunting

The Easy Peasy mini festival bunting uses smaller scraps of materials, ribbons, wool or even old broken plastic bags and is perfect for getting all the family involved, including young children. 

Materials Needed – Mini Festival Bunting

To make 1.5m of mini bunting you will need –

• 1.5m fabric tape or string
• Scraps and off-cuts of ribbons and material
• Fabric glue optional

Before you start, just like the version above you need to first lay your materials out and decide on the colourways and fabrics you would like to use.

Step 1: Cut your fabric

Cut your fabric scraps, old materials or ribbons into roughly 1cm wide x 10cm long strips.

Step 2: Tie on your materials

Leaving around 15cm at the either end of the tape, for hanging up the bunting, tie your materials one or two pieces at a time along the tape. Leave about 5cm between each tassle. 

You may want to dab a small blob of fabric glue on each tassle to keep it in place but this is optional.

If you want to refer back to this tutorial later – don’t forget to Pin it!

You can buy our bunting online at www.bewleysbunting.co.uk or our bunting hire service is perfect for weddings, village fetes or garden parties.

Follow us on Facebook @BewleysBunting to find out more about our festival workshops.

Looking for more easy upcycles for a party? Try this guide for an upcycled gift box.