Full Disclosure, when I started making these banners I had something much more simple in mind. And then I went a little overboard and made it waaaayyyy too complicated. Either way, they turned out great and I'll be as detailed as I can in describing how I made them. However, keep in mind that these end up being a bit of a time suck.
You will need:
- Fabric: Red, Green, Yellow, & Blue (approximately 1 foot of each)
- Felt: Golden Yellow, Silvery Gray, Black, & Bronze-Brown (two pieces of each)
- Thread to match both the fabric and the felt
- Embroidery Floss
- Wooden Dowel (4)
- Twine
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Pins
- Printer
- Iron
Each step is repeated for each banner
STEP ONE:
You shouldn't need to cut the fabric if you purchased just a foot of each. Using a piece of 8.5 x 11 cardstock as a guide, fold and iron the rough edges of the fabric over the paper so you have a long rectangle approximately 11 x 44 inches. Sew a seam on the edges on each side with matching thread leaving a quarter inch between your straight stitch and the edge of the fabric. Then cut a triangle, approximately 5 inches tall, out of the bottom of your fabric. Make sure to leave enough fabric to allow for seams. Fold over the edges, iron, and sew.
STEP TWO:
Measuring 7.5 inches above your bottom seam, using the contrasting color thread, sew lines parallel to the top two legs of your triangle. It helps to iron a crease in the center of your fabric, at this point. You can iron it out once your project is finished.
STEP THREE:
Cut out a bunch of diamonds in the contrasting felt color. These diamonds are about 1.25 inches across and 2.5 inches tall. Use image below to print out and cut diamonds from the felt. You will need 28 diamonds
STEP FOUR:
Once you have your felt diamonds, take your first diamond and line it up so the top is touching the sewn line from step two and the edge is touching the center line of the fabric. Start sewing a vertical line through the diamond and add another diamond when you have just about sewn through the first diamond, repeat with the third diamond. Then add columns of diamonds, lining them up with the diamond pattern and sewing through them vertically. Once you have your 8 columns of diamonds. Sew across them horizontally so that the edges of each diamond are touch the diamond in the column next to it. Then using the same contrasting thread that matches the felt, sew all the way around your chevron shaped polygon. Trim off excess felt from diamonds that had over-lapped the seams.
STEP FIVE:
Printing out the images below so they are all about 7.75 inches tall (except the snake, make that one a little smaller). Pin images to contrasting felt color and cut out.
Eagle (Bronze on Blue)
Badger (Black on Yellow)
Lion (Gold on Red)
Snake (Silver on Green)
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| Front & Back view of sewn felt snake. |
STEP SIX:
Take the cut out of each of the animals and place them on their respective flags approximately 14.25 inches above the tip of the diamond polygon. Center and pin to fabric. Sew onto flag.
 |
| Your flags should be looking something like this |
STEP SEVEN:
Print out the images below so each ribbon measures 9 inches across. Pin images to felt but don't cut out yet. Using 3 strands of embroidery floss that matches the fabric (not the felt) trace the lettering with stitches. Once the lettering is complete, cut out the shape of the ribbon in one piece. Do not cut the ends of the ribbon away from the body of the ribbon. Now take the paper and carefully rip it off of the felt and out from underneath the stitches.
The picture to the left shows the first 3 ribbons have been completed and cut from the felt and the Slytherin ribbon is in the process of being stitched.
STEP EIGHT:
Take the cut out felt of each of the ribbons and place them on their respective flags approximately 11 inches above the tip of the diamond polygon. Center and pin to fabric. Sew onto flag, stitching along the felt in the same pattern as the lines on the pattern, only slightly indented. Make sure to leave space between the lines of stitching for the folds. Once stitching is complete, carefully cut the fold spaces from the felt.
STEP NINE:
Fold the top edge of the flag over and back at least 1.5 inches, but match up to your other flags to ensure that they are the same length. Then sew a seam along the top edge about an inch down. Insert wooden dowel and tie a short length of twine to each end of the dowel.
STEP TEN:
Hang your banners and step back and appreciate all your hard work.
LINKS TO THE REST OF THE PARTY
STEP ONE:
You shouldn't need to cut the fabric if you purchased just a foot of each. Using a piece of 8.5 x 11 cardstock as a guide, fold and iron the rough edges of the fabric over the paper so you have a long rectangle approximately 11 x 44 inches. Sew a seam on the edges on each side with matching thread leaving a quarter inch between your straight stitch and the edge of the fabric. Then cut a triangle, approximately 5 inches tall, out of the bottom of your fabric. Make sure to leave enough fabric to allow for seams. Fold over the edges, iron, and sew. 
The picture to the left shows the first 3 ribbons have been completed and cut from the felt and the Slytherin ribbon is in the process of being stitched. 
Then using some LED tea light candles you can purchase online, hot glued them in at the top end of each roll. The bottom end of the rolls needed to remain open so you can access the switch at the bottom of tea light. Once the light is in place, add hot glue dribbles down the sides to make it look more like a real wax candle.
