Brazilian Flag Tutorial

Well, it's not exactly a tutorial...but it will give you a good idea of how to make one. So a little background first. Why am I making a Brazilian flag? I live in Brazil! And we aren't able to get any American channels to watch the Olympics, so we're watching Brazilian ones. So who are they showing? Brazilian athletes of course. So we're cheering for Brazil this year, solely because we don't really get to see anyone else.

Here's my flag. I already had a little US flag, so I sort of started with that. I cut a rectangle of fabric twice the width of the sample flag (because I planned on wrapping it around the BBQ skewer that was my pole). Then I cut my yellow errr, trapezoid, parallelogram? How did I figure out the correct size (you see, I was just eyeballin')? I folded my (already folded in half) flag base in half, up-down ways and side-to-side ways. This gave me the point where my top and bottoms of the oblongatron (made up shape name) would meet. So I drew lines to connect the points, and there you go, that's the shape, whatever it's name.

Now the circle on top... Circles, to me, are trickier. Look out tomorrow on a little how-to on circles. I used the fold and fold and fold method, like the way you make a snowflake. And just trimmed the edge. Since everything else was eyeballed, I thought a non-perfect circle would be fine.

Then the stitching! I like embroidery, I sure do. I just used a simple regular ole stitch to connect the flag in half, attach the triangulation and the circle. And the part where the flag wraps around the skewer, just a normal stitch there. For the banner on the blue circle (Order and Progression!) I used a...chain stitch, I believe is the name. It's the easiest most decorative thing I know how to do. I like it.

Here's the stats:
Materials: small pieces of fabric, I used some scrap yellow, and Art Gallery blenders. Thread (three colors), scissors, needle, skewer (or other piece of straight wood) a relatively good brain.
Time: 1 hour, total
Skill level: Pretty low... I bet a 10 year old could do it, but might not have the patience. If I was 10, I would omit the stitching and use a bottle of glue instead.

 

WhooooOlympics!

Who loves em? I do.

And so, I've made you guys suuuch an amazing project. Oh, well, okay, maybe it's pretty basic and just for fun. But who doesn't like to play with some scraps, glue and glitter? And maybe some cardboard? Who likes to get dressed up to sit on the couch and watch TV? Me. I asked my husband if he wanted a pair of these wonderful Olympic ring glasses, he politely declined. I have no idea why he wouldn't want a pair.

So here we go. You take some cardboard, and trace some circles on it. I used a yogurt cup and then a smaller glass to make my rings. I mostly eyeballed the spacing (I figured I could get three rings in a row without too much trouble) and used my sunglasses as a template for the nose spacing and ....errr... ear pieces? What are those called? Anyways. I traced that all out of a scrap of cardboard, then cut it out with an exacto knife where I had to, but used scissors where I could, because I'm much less dangerous with those.

Let's see.... next step. Oh, yes, decorate. I used scrap fabric where I could (Olympic colors are red, yellow, green, blue and black, I altered mine a little bit to personal tastes), glitter and sequins. For the fabric I glued down the top piece, then wrapped the rest around the back, then trimmed it. Glitter is pretty self explanatory, just put down some glue, dump on some glitter, you know how it goes. I used a small strip of fabric to attach those ear holders. Glue it on the inside so that they flex right. Then...let's see... Put em on! Watch some Olympic action!!

Materials:
Scrap Fabric: I used Art Gallery's blender, a solid from them, and a neon pink I found on a sale rack. Sequins, pencil, paint and glitter. Pretty much anything decorative you like.
Cups for tracing circles, and I thought sunglasses made the size process easier. Oh, and HOT GLUE GUN! I don't make many projects without that sucker.

Here are some pictures if that description wasn't good enough.

Wowmygosh!

My page views have shot through the roof on this blog! HOW INSPIRING! Oh you guys. I'm going to get to work and make some amazing blog posts right now. You guys are the best.

I'm more excited about you guys than I am about this hotdog. That means I'm reallllly excited.

Word.

I finally got the book!

Hey folks! I finally got to see a copy of Sweet Coco in person. Howsabout that? And I purchased a box of 28 for myself. Here are some non professional photos that don't quite do the book justice.

New stash

From my trip to the states, a little pile of stuff (that I thought I wouldn't be able to find here). New stuff for my stash.