The cooler weather here in Texas has us in the mood to do some hand stitching in front of the TV, bundled up under a cozy quilt, and marathoning our favorite spooky season movies. Today’s Spooky Bat Bunting tutorial is a super quick and easy one! It’s even simple enough to recruit your little ones to join in on the fun!
1. Gather Your Supplies
If you have some Halloween fabric in your stash already, you might just have everything you need for today’s project! Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1/2 Yard of a light Halloween fabric
- 1/2 Yard of a dark Halloween fabric
- 1 Pack of Heat N Bond Ultrahold
- 12wt Light Sand 100% Cotton Thread by Aurifil
- Hand Sewing Needles
- A printed copy of the Spooky Bat Bunting Template Free PDF by Fat Quarter Shop (cardstock recommended)
- Frixion Fineliner Pen
- Hole Punch (optional)
- Twine for hanging
Any Halloween fabric will look great for your Bat Bunting, but these are the ones that we picked out:
- Good Spirits Natural Curios with Good Spirits S’mores Wise Moons
- Eerie Creepy Crawlers Cement with Good Spirits Black Creepy Damask
- Regions Beyond Multi Peculiar with Pumpkin Patch Black Inside Cover
2. Fuse Bunting Fabrics
We decided to use Heat N Bond Ultrahold to attach the fabrics for the sake of speed, longevity, and a lightweight finish. By using Heat N Bond, your fabric is prepped and ready in a flash, the adhesive is perfectly pertinent, and the bats are lightweight enough to be hung by command hooks (ideal for dorm rooms and totally renter-friendly)!
Follow the directions on the back of the Heat N Bond Ultrahold package and allow your fabric to cool before moving on to step three.
3. Trace and Cut Out Your Bats
Cut out the bats from the Spooky Bat Bunting Template Free PDF and get to tracing! We recommend printing the bats onto cardstock so they’re more sturdy while tracing. We have also been loving the Frixion Fineliner Pen lately because the felt tip draws super smooth on fabric compared to the rollerball version.
Once you’ve traced as many bats as you want onto your fabric, it’s time to cut them out. The Tula Pink Micro Serrated Shears and the Sweet Snips are a favorite at the office, but any sharp fabric scissors will do the trick and cut like a treat!
4. Add Stitching Detail to Your Bats
Step four is where your bats come to life! Start by cutting about two yards of the Aurifil thread, thread it through your needle so it’s doubled, and tie a knot at the end. Insert your needle into the light side of the fabric (it camouflages the knot better) and do a running stitch around the outside of your bat.
It’s up to you how fussy your stitches are! The Heat N Bond Ultrahold is already holding your fabric together, so whether you are a seasoned stitcher or a first-time sewist, your running stitches are there to add charm over security. In fact, we had three of our stitchy staffers, including a true beginner as well as seasoned stitchers, make a sample to show you and we love all three with all of our batty hearts!
5. Hang Your Bunting!
It’s time for your bats to take flight! All you need to do is punch a hole at the top of each wing, cut your twine to your preferred length, and string them up. If your twine gets a bit rowdy and unravels, making it hard to thread, wrap a piece of tape around the end and your twine-based mischief will be managed.
Since your little colony of bats is double-sided and a mix of sizes, there are so many patterns you can make! You will see in our examples that we alternated between the dark side of the big bats and the light side of the little bats, but one of our stitchy staffers opted to show just the dark side for an extra spooky sight.
Bonus Step: Jazz it Up!
The Spooky Bat Bunting looks great on its own, but sometimes more is more! Layered with a scrappy tassel garland or hung above a scary tablescape, your Spooky Bat Bunting will add a festively frightful finish to your Halloween decor. Be sure to keep an eye on our Instagram! We will be releasing a short and sweet tutorial for this scrappy tassel garland in two flaps of a bat’s wing.
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6 comments
Do you iron the bats together after you cut them out or just stitch them together?
The bats are cut from two layers of fabric fused together with the heat and bond so they are ready to string together. The stitching is for enhancement and added security to the bond.
Read the instructions again. You will ultra bond fabric piece wrong sides together.
what a cute pattern… thank you! Going to make for my niece since her birthday is halloween
I am going to have to make these for next year’s Boo Box for my grands! This year I made bunting from a Sweetwater bag panel.