Flag Friday - Crocheted Flags

Lisa asked me to explain how I use crochet in my prayer flags after seeing these pictures:

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

The joke is that I used a different method in each one.

Picture 1: I begin with a length of chain stitch before simply crocheting along the hanging edge with half crochet stitch. If its a single flag I then do more chain stitch before turning and crocheting back along it.
If it's too difficult to pass the hook through the fabric you can make a hole with an awl first such as in the following picture

Picture 2:   I stitched a row of blanket stitch across the hanging edge and then crochet a line of chain stitch before crocheting into the blanket stitches and again doing a chain stitch, before turning and crocheting back across it.
As in this pic you can see the blanket st in red thread and the crochet in yellow thread.
You can also see the first amount of chain st.

Picture 3: I used an old piece of pre-existing crochet and stitched it to the flags by hand but a zigzag machine stitch would work just as well.I have used a strip of lace edging in the past as well.

Here you can see I left gaps between the flags and decorated the gaps with buttons.This one hangs in my studio.

Q&A:
Crochet stitches used?  Any stitch you are comfortable with.
Number of rows crocheted?   Any number you want and it can be solid or lacy style crocheting.
Do you join a few together or make then singularly?  I make what is needed, be that one flag or a number of flags.
Do I need to be a crochet master? I like to use crochet because it fast and easy to use, and you don’t need to be a crochet master to do it. As long as you can make a chain and do one type of crochet stitch, anyone can do it.
The whole point of making prayer flags is to send love and positive thoughts out there to the universe and you can’t do that when you are stressing about your work……well I can’t.

I do hope that helps and will answer any questions, but I will say it now after years of following patterns I make things up now as I go.
Happy flag making!
 Cheers, Faye

Flag Friday

For this weeks Flag Friday we wanted to share a couple of links to stories about Prayer Flags being made for Nepal that we thought might be inspirational.

SAYING A PRAYER: Little Hallingbury Church of England Primary School pupils Oliver Engehan, 8, and Amelia Lellow, 9, with their prayer flags for Nepal - from the Herts and Essex Observer

Read more: http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Prayers-sent-struck-earthquake/story-26410590-detail/story.html#ixzz3Zcj3JDXy 
Follow us: @HertsEssexObser on Twitter

Children in Chichester UK make flags for Nepal victims

Prayer Flags Serve As Tribute To The Fallen

If you have seen something of interest, please share it in the comments!  If you have made a prayer flag you would like to fly on the internet, please email us at prayerflagproject@gmail.com

Flag Friday

Creating prayer flags is not about making a perfect piece of art, or finding the perfect words and images.  It is about putting our hopes, feelings and prayers into the world and having the faith that they will be heard and answered.  There have been many terrible and great things happening in the world this week and we are hoping you will find uplifting words to share with the world and create a flag (or two or three) to put into the wind, whether that wind is outside or across the internet.  Below are a couple of word clouds we hope might inspire you.  

 If you can think of other resources for words or sayings, please feel free to share them in the comments.

And as always please feel free to email us at prayerflagproject@gmail.com to share your flags on the blog.

Prayer Flag Tutorial by Jamie Fingal

I have been making prayer flags for about 3 years, first primarily for my own healing.  I felt it was way easier to make a small project, than to struggle with a large one.  I've made these for myself that hang in my studio, in my backyard and gifts for friends. I have made 5x7, 6x8 and now 4-1/2 x 8-1/2 #658113.  I used a Sizzix Fabi die cutting machine (same as the Big Shot) and the die cuts a perfect rectangle 4-1/2" x 8-1/2"  This photo is of 3 pieces of wool blended felt (National Nonwovens TOY002), that were cut on the machine.

This text fabric is from my line 'Heart and Soul Sisters,' by Hoffman Fabrics - all about being brave, strong and bold girls who dream big.  So there are great words to use on flags  The fabric is pre-fused with Mistyfuse, so I can cut out the things that I want, and iron them onto my composition.

These are words of encouragement for a dear friend who needs some good cheer

and some little drawings are part of the collection with birds, flowers, do-dads and houses, which make the perfect accent piece

I begin by laying out the words onto the wool blended felt, and not ironing them down yet.

I added some background, placing it under the words, so there is an overlap.  Some colors at the top and bottoms to make the flags more colorful.  When I am happy with the placement, I press them with a hot dry iron on the cotton setting

Flip them over, and cut the excess fabric from the back, using the felt as a guide with some sharp scissors

Here is a drawing of the flower dies that I used from Sizzix

I had made dozens of these flowers for another project - all with Sizzix die cuts in the Fabi machine (Big Shot).  I admit that I do have a sort of addiction with Sizzix flower dies. They can be used so many ways.  They are all pre-fused with Mistyfuse, to make it easier to put them together, and then on another project. I think they are totally fun!

I selected three flowers that would work for the flags.  I hand cut the stems and leaves out of a darker color of green so they would stand out on the lime green background.  I placed the stems under the flower petals.  Press into place, using a hot dry iron.  Note:  fabrics can be repositioned if they are fabric to fabric.  Fabric to felt sticks remarkably well, so you cannot reposition your artwork.

Using one piece of hot pink wool blended felt, I placed the flags on it, making sure there was a bit of space between each one.  This is my backing, and the idea is for it to show all the way around the edges when completed.  I pinned the top to the pink and free motion machine quilted each flag to the pink.  First with an outline around the flowers, and the tops and bottoms of the text and coordinating fabrics. This is yet another way to practice free motion machine quilting.  I free motion zig zagged the edges, all the way around.

Using a rotary cutter, mat and ruler, I trimmed the edges leaving about 1/8th of an inch all the way around.

Then I pressed them all with a hot iron, because most times when you machine quilt, the piece shrinks a little from the stitching.  The iron flattens everything out.

Be true to yourself, be strong

Be authentic, be bold

Be brave

I machine sewed them to a long piece of ribbon for easy hanging.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on making prayer flags!  Feel free to visit my Twisted Sister blog for more 'How To's'  -- Jamie Fingal

Flag Friday

Text and imagery are a large part of any prayer flag.  There are many ways to add text to your flag and this week we'll talk about stamping and writing on flags.

Some people enjoy printing text directly onto their flag while others will put the text on paper or fabric and stitch it to the flag later.  No matter which method you enjoy, testing your products out first is always a good idea.  I have lined up different types of fabrics to show how each method of stamping and writing looks. 

Starting from left to right we have:  PFD (prepared for dyeing fabric), commercial solid, hand dye, commercial print, three hand dyes and another commercial solid.

Not all stamp pads are waterproof on fabric. Craft Test Dummies has a wonderful comparison of various stamp pads on fabric and their washability.  I like using Memento Luxe from Tsukineko.  The ink is made specifically for Mixed media work and works well on fabric.  This is the ink I will be using on my samples.

Rubber stamps are readily available at craft, scrapbook, major fabric stores, some big box stores, and always online. The first row of Joy in the photo below was stamped using individual letter stamps I picked up from my local craft shop. They are affordable (especially with a coupon!) and versatile. The letters in this set are about 1" tall.

One of the hardest things about stamping onto fabric is remembering that you don't need to push the stamp into the paper like the ink will run away!  Doing so will often give a ghost image of the edges of the stamp (as you can see on all my letters below!)  If you like that look then stamp with all your might!

The large letter A's that are stamped at the bottom of the black fabric were created using acrylic paint.  Paints can easily be pounced or brushed onto stamps and provide a nice image. Just make sure you wash the paint off quickly so that it doesn't gum up your stamps!

"Love" is a stamp I carved from my own handwriting and an eraser.  I left the stamp rough (little bits not carved away) so that the stamp didn't look manufactured.

Here are a few links on how to carve your own stamp:

Carving Stamps by Joggles.com (video)

Eraser Stamp with Xacto Knife (video)

Hand Carved Stamps (blog tutorial)

If you want to add your own hand writing directly to the fabric there are many wonderful pens and markers on the market.  I have demonstrated a few in these photos:

Silver, White, Gold and Copper Zig Fabricolor pens flow nicely across the fabric.  Zig also makes other colors but I only have the metallic and white.  The white often needs to be applied a few times on dark fabric to get a nice opaque white but it still makes a nice line.  The markers say they are a fine tip but they are thicker than I would have imagined.  I used the white marker with my letter stamps to create the word Love at the bottom of the black fabric below.

The next line of joy's were written with a Sharpie Grip Pen in purple. They are surprisingly smooth to write with on fabric and I think would be ideal for writing out an entire poem, song lyric or prayer onto a flag.  The line if very fine.

The next line of joy's were written using the Sharpie Fine Point Pen.  The pen is a bit thicker than the Grip Pen by Sharpie but still writes smoothly across the fabric.

The next line of Joy's were made using a Pigma Micron Pen, size 005.  Micron's have been a staple for writing on fabric for many years, and while it is my favorite for drawing with on paper, I don't enjoy using it on fabric.  The pen doesn't glide across the fabric but sticks and stutters making writing difficult.

Finally at the bottom right on the white PFD fabric is the Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric.  This pen glides across fabric like butter!  It is so nice to write with, however each pen does not contain much ink and so it has lost favor with me.  The pen I was using for the sample above is on it's last leg and so I'm afraid the sample doesn't give you a good indication of just how beautiful it writes when new.

*Tip - Iron a piece of freezer paper onto the back of your fabric before writing with any pens or markers.  This will keep your fabric tight and flat and much easier to write on!

Do you have a favorite pen or marker for writing on fabric that I did not cover?

Next Friday there we will have a guest blogger, Belinda Spiwak, showing how to make a gelli print prayer flag.  

*NOTE - The links in this post are NOT sponsored but are given for your benefit only.

Flag Friday

Welcome to Flag Friday!

Starting today, each Friday here at The Prayer Flag Project, a post will be dedicated to a tutorial, challenge or link to fun things you might want to know about making and sharing the love and healing of Prayer Flags.  This week I wanted to start out at the beginning:

Prayer flags have a very long and beautiful history rooted in Tibetan and Buddhist culture.  Vivika DeNegre and I covered a little bit of this history in a blog post at Quilting Daily, which I encourage you to read if you haven't already.  If the history of prayer flags intrigues you can read more about them in this article, as well as this article.

In their most basic form a Prayer Flag is nothing more than a piece of cloth printed with images and words, strung together and hung outside, however it is the love of the maker, that truly brings the  prayer flags to life.

Why Make a Prayer Flag?

Prayer flags are just fun to make!  There are no rules in the art of prayer flags and because of the small size, they are also an easy way to experiment with new art techniques, however, I find I enjoy making prayer flags for their loving qualities.

Carrie Bloomston enjoys making prayer flags because it is a creative project with purposefulness, and meaning that is sacred and filled with prayer and intention.  Although not religious in their modern format, prayer flags, like many sewing projects, act as a placeholder for the divine.  We sew with love and give that love away to family and friends.  They feel that love as they use the items we give. It is the same with prayer flags.  Every stitch is a prayer for love if we hold that spirit as we work.

Jane LaFazio likes to make prayer flags because it allows her to think of the person or cause as she sews the flags.  Making the flags helps her to focus on the receiver and send positive thoughts to them.

One of the reasons Jamie Fingal makes prayer flags is because she likes to have small flags with positive affirmations to inspire her in her art studio.  They also make excellent gifts for friends.  Jamie started making them when she had a couple of personal tragedies in her life.  The flags gave her comfort and helped with the healing process.  She was able to get her mojo back by making prayer flags.  She still enjoys making and giving prayer flags.

Get Ready. . .

Come back each Friday for a new tutorial or challenge.  This weeks challenge is to read over the flag making tutorials on the blog and think of someone you would like to share a flag with.  Gather your supplies and come back next Friday for a tutorial on adding text to your flags.

Feel free to share this post with your friends, and invite them to join the party.  You can email me at prayerflagproject (at) gmail (dot) com if you have photos you would like to share on the blog.