Shamrock Flag

Well, once again, I got an idea for a project a bit late for the intended holiday. I wanted a St Patrick's Day flag, but all the cheesy nylon ones in the store just weren't my cup of tea. Well, since I was planning an Easter Flag made of burlap (that post later!), I figured I could make this one out of burlap too.

Basically, I measured an actual flag for dimensions, then cut some burlap. Although a bit more tedious, it's a good idea to cut along the weave of the burlap to ensure it's straight as this fabric moves and stretches a lot. This flag will be folded in half to give it some weight and also because it can be a bit transparent for a stencil with only single-ply construction.

I opted to hot glue EVERYTHING. I know I could probably break out the sewing machine, but burlap snags and doesn't lie flat. I figured, if this works, it will be SO much simpler! So first hot glue one end to give it a finished edge. Just a heads up so you don't forget, burlap is extremely porous and the hot glue will bleed through. Make sure you have something underneath where you are gluing!

Next we fold it in half, leaving ~4 inches at the finished end to be folded over later to form the sleeve. It's a good idea to iron the bottom fold to keep it obvious. Next, put a bead of glue in this crease so that it holds. A bit hard to see in the picture, but that is the folded end already glued to make it stay.

The last construction part before decorating is to glue both edges all the way up, leaving the top open. You should now essentially have an envelope. The reason to leave it open is so that you can put a barrier (like a piece of cardboard) in between the two sides to prevent any paint bleeding through.

Now is the fun part; decorations! I blew up a shamrock and printed it on cardstock so I could stencil it easily. I used an outdoor paint. I knew I'd be spraying it too to seal the overall flag, but figured it couldn't hurt!

Next, I color it in. The fabric weave is so handy to ensure straight lines! I just used some handy blue painter's tape and lined it up along a single thread.

And finally, some writing to finish it off. I opted to not put the "Happy St Patrick's Day" on, to encourage my rationalization that I could then use it anytime during the year! And since I didn't finish it in time for March 17th, that was an excellent concept! I used a sharpie to outline the lighter letters. I'm pretty happy with it :) Getting the other side finished was a bit more tedious since I had already done it all once; no thrill of the unknown left! Finally finished though!

I sprayed it with a UV protector that is also moisture resistant. Burlap has a tendency to breakdown with exposure to a lot of sunlight, so that was a must! Looks pretty snazzy if I do say so myself! Like it??