Fandomonium Prize Construction - Part 4: MACUSA Wall Banner

Fandomonium Prize Construction - Part 4: MACUSA Wall Banner

Originally, I was going to be making Wolverine claws as my final prize for Fandomonium. Unfortunately, all of my iterations were either horribly uncomfortable or way too dangerous. So, based on my love of all things Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I decided to make a Magical Congress of the United States of America wall banner. 

Supplies:

Black Satin

Black Cotton

Featherweight  Fusible Interfacing

Dowel Rod

Gold & Black Bias Tape

Gold, Black & White Fabric Paint

Gold Acrylic Paint

Ruler

Pen

Iron

Sewing Machine

Wax Paper

Printer

Box Cutter

Scissors

It was a really simple project. The only big time drag was waiting for paint to dry.

I started by making the basic shape of the banner. I started making a rectangle my desired size. It was about 11" x 18". I then drew a line about 2.5" from the bottom. I drew this all out on my interfacing. 

I drew a mark on the center point of the rectangle at the bottom and connected it to the line I drew.

I cut that sucker out and had my basic shape going.

Next, I ironed the interfacing to my satin.

Then I cut out the satin to match the interfacing.

Then I repeated the same thing for the cotton.

I pinned the cotton and the satin together and sewed them together, excluding the top.

I then flipped the whole thing right side out and gave it another press with the iron.

Taking the dowel rod, I measured it out the desired length I would need.  I then used the scissors and box cutter to trim it down to size.

Next, I painted the dowel rod gold.

While waiting for that to dry, I made the fabric hanging bits to attach the banner to the rod. I wanted three of them for stability, but you can add more or less.

I cut out three rectangles of interfacing that were about 1.5" x 3.5". I ironed them to the satin and cut them out so I had some nice short strips.

I folded in the edges about a quarter of the way in. I pressed the edges and then pinned them. I proceeded to sew them down.

After I completed sewing  the strips(right), I pinned the top and bottom together (middle) and then sewed it together to make the loops (left).

On the banner, I took the top edges and pressed them in to form a neat edge and pinned them down.

I then inserted the loops and pinned them between the satin and cotton layers at the top.

I sewed it all together. 

For the hanging string, I braided gold and black bias tape together. You can use ribbon, but I had this stuff laying around so I went with it.

I hot glued the braid to the edges of the dowel. This served to attach it and keep the dowel from sliding around.

Next came the painting of the symbols.

I used a black and white version of MACUSA's logo. I originally found it online  and then changed it slightly via Word (made it black and white, adjusted the balance, etc.)

You can just put the image below in a word document and print.

I cut out sections of wax paper/freezer paper to get templates.

I painted in stages and in layers. For each section, I used a base of white and gold fabric paint mixed together and then went over it in layers of gold. 

On the initial paint job, I left out the stars. However, I went back and added them. I did so by putting a drop of paint where I wanted the center of the star to be and then used my brush to pull the paint outward the make the star's points.

 DONE!

It took a few days because I had to wait for paint layers to dry, but it was overall successful. 

If you have any questions or comments, let me know. Thanks! TTFN!