Multi-Piece Garden Flag

This tutorial shows how to make a garden flag using any size of the design. This tutorial will cover how to make all of our multi-piece garden flags no matter how many pieces they are made of or what shape the pieces are.

Cut a piece of medium-weight cutaway stabilizer and a piece of the main fabric that are both bigger than the embroidery hoop. Spray the cutaway stabilizer with temporary spray adhesive and smooth it on to the wrong side of the fabric piece.

Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together. Make sure everything is hooped tightly and there are no wrinkles or puckers in the fabric.

Load the first embroidery file on the machine and attach the hoop onto the machine. Embroider the entire first design.

Once the embroidery is finished, unhoop the embroidered fabric, and set it aside. Do not trim the fabric or stabilizer yet.

Repeat the previous steps to embroider all of the pieces in the chosen garden flag. For example, the garden flag we are making is made up of two panel embroidery files.

To prepare the first design panel, iron the embroidered panels with a pressing cloth on top. Try and remove any wrinkles and make the sides as straight and flat as possible.

After pressing, measure your chosen seam allowance away from all the edges of the design and cut away the excess material. This will leave an even border of fabric around the edges of the embroidered design. This outer border of fabric will be the seam allowance. Feel free to use whatever seam allowance measurement works best for you. We used a 1/2in seam allowance for our garden flag.

The easiest way to measure and cut the seam allowance around the design is by using a quilting ruler and rotary cutter. If preferred, you can also measure and draw the seam allowance around the outside of the panel, and simply cut on that line with scissors instead.

Repeat the steps to press all of the embroidered pieces so they are straight and flat. Then cut them all out, leaving the seam allowance (1/2in for our example) border of fabric around all edges of every piece.

After all the pieces are pressed and cut out, carefully arrange them on the work area to show what pieces go next to each other when the garden flag is all lined up Keeping them arranged like this while you work will help prevent them from being mixed up or sewn to the wrong pieces.

To begin assembly, take the top two pieces, and lay them on top of each other with right sides together. Match up the edges of the fabric.

The trick to perfectly lining up your pieces and seams with the edge of the embroidery is to pay close attention to the embroidered outer box of the designs. When pinning any pieces together take extra care when matching up the outer borders and corners of the two pieces as best you can on top of each other. The closer they are lined up, the better the panels will be aligned once sewn.

When sewing, you want to always sew with the backside of the embroidery facing up so you can see that outer box while you sew. Then, simply sew right along the inside edge of the embroidered border. Sewing there will look best and leave no gaps. Since we measured the seam allowance from this line as well, sewing here also acts as a guide to sewing the correct seam allowance.

Place the pieces on the machine with the wrong side of the embroidery facing up. Sew the two pieces together following the outer box of the embroidered design and the edges of the applique.

After sewing the seam, press the seam so it lays nice and flat using a pressing cloth.

If your garden flag only has 2 pieces, continue onto making hangers.

If your garden flag has more than 2 pieces, repeat the previous steps to pin, sew, and press all of the pieces together.

To make the hangers, cut three pieces of fabric that are 3.5" wide x 4.75" long. In our example, we are making these out of the same fabric as our outer borders.

Fold the fabric pieces in half along the shorter side, and then pin or clip them along the open side. When folded they should still be 4.75" long.

Sew a seam along the open, pinned side with a .5" seam allowance. Repeat for all three pieces.

Turn the three hanger pieces right side out. Press all three hanger pieces flat with the seam on the center back of one side.

Then fold the three hangers in half again with the seam side together. Lay them along the top edge of the panel scene with the raw edge of the hangers matched up with the raw edge of the outer border.

Center one of the three hangers. Then measure and place the other two at least 1/2in in from both sides. Pin or clip all three in place.

Baste a seam along the raw edge of all 3 hangers to hold them in place. For best results, sew this at a smaller seam allowance than the normal seam allowance you are using for the rest of the project, so this seam doesn't show. We sewed ours at a 1/4in seam allowance.

To make the back piece, lay the assembled front piece on the back fabric and trace its shape onto the back fabric using a fabric marking tool. Then cut on the drawn line to create a back piece that is the same shape and size as the assembled front piece.

Lay the back piece on top of the front piece with right sides together. Then pin or clip the pieces together along all the sides.

Place the pinned fabric on the machine so the wrong side of the embroidery is facing up. Sew the front and back pieces together by sewing along the embroidered outer box edges just like we did when sewing all the embroidered pieces together.

Make sure to leave a 6-8in opening along any side, so the garden flag can be turned right side out.

Trim any corners or curves to help the garden flag look nicer once turned right side out.

Turn the garden flag right side out through the opening.

Use an iron and pressing cloth to press the edges. Also fold the raw edges of the opening inward and press them.

Use a hand sewing needle and thread to sew the opening closed. If preferred, you can also sew 1/8in seam around all the edges of the garden flag to help them lay nicely and close the opening.

Multi-piece garden flags can also be finished with bias tape. If using this method, simply match up the front and back pieces together with wrong sides together and baste the layers together before adding the bias tape.

Garden flags make lovely gifts and fun decor. Make flags for different seasons and occasions to decorate your porch, front door, and garden.