Handkerchief Bunting - An Easy Little Tutorial

While I was straightening up the basement, I came across my collection of handkerchiefs.  I have quite a few, because several years ago, I was planning on sewing them together for a bed skirt, an idea I had seen in Better Homes and Gardens and torn out for my "Ideas" notebook.  You know, Ideas notebook -- what people did before they pinned all their dream ideas on Pinterest.

But the bed skirt never panned out, as I would have needed about 100 hankies, and collected only 2 dozen or so.  Plus, the problem with handkerchiefs is that they are not a standard size or shape, which would have made piecing them together tricky.

I started thinking about displaying them in my workroom somehow, and came up with using them in a bunting.  And since buntings are popular right now (see my blog header for evidence), and since I haven't seen anyone do one like this yet, I thought I would write up a quick how-to.   What I like best about this easy technique is that the hankies are not cut -- you could take them down to use for another project or display (or for when you run out of tissues.)

First, give the handkerchiefs a good douse of spray starch and iron them well.

Fold the hankie like a kite.  First, bring two sides together in the middle and press:

then the other two sides and press:

Wow.  I really need a new ironing board cover.  Please ignore my scorch marks.

Fold with the points together and iron one last time, with lots of spray starch.

Hang each hankie over a line (ribbon, string, twine or whatever you have) and pin in the back to keep it in place.  If the hankie is a bit flimsy, pin again at the bottom.

Hang the bunting and enjoy it.  I am; this makes me feel like there is always a party in my room.

Just a few thoughts:
I have several white lace-edged hankies; folding them as I described above hides all the pretty lace, so before I folded the diamond into a triangle, I flipped it over, which put the lace on the outside.
I think this would work really well using a Moda Layer Cake packet, like this one; layer cakes are sets of 40 or so coordinating fabrics, cut in 10" squares and pinked on the edges.  You could enjoy the decoration for awhile then take it down and sew a quilt!

Peace.