Make a Lacy Flag out of a Vinly Place Mat

I was looking for something to match my Lace Ribbon Flag that I have hanging on my front door.  While that is outside it is under an awning.  I wanted something for my windows and I wanted it to go with the lace flag on my door.    I didn't think the lace would hold up so I started trying to come up with something lacy and weather resistant.

That's when I thought about the vinyl and went in search of lacy place mats.  I forgot to take a picture of the plain place mat before I started working on it, but I think we all know what they look like. 

I looked several places and finally found some I liked on Amazon, see link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EN4BNM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I am not trying to promote anyplace, just thought you might like to know where I bought mine.  I think they came in an order of 6 and that is exactly how many I needed.  

You might be able to find them some place else.

What you will need for this project:

White Vinyl Lace Place mat or mats depending on how many you want to make.  

Painter's tape, I think the the one I used was about an inch and a half wide.

Small Paint Brush

Folk Art Multi Surface acrylic paint in a red  and blue of your choice(once again not pushing any product this is just what I used.)

Parchment paper

Paper plate or something similar to put paint in

Tape measure

Small Dowel rod for hanging

String or Ribbon for hanging

E6000 Glue

How your mat will look when taped

The kind of paint I used

How it will look after adding red paint and removing tape

Back of mat, to show gluing of dowel rod

Instructions

1.  Place a piece of parchment paper down, make it large enough so you can paint without making a mess.  Then lay your place mat on that.  On my mat it seemed one side was a little prettier than the other, so I painted on that side.

2.  Next, start taping.  I decided to start with a white stripe so starting on the right side I lined the tape up with the edge and pressed it down.  I made the tape longer than the mat so it could help hold the mat down while painting. The 1st stripe on the right side of the mat is white.  

3.  The width of the tape and the width of the mat didn't quite work out, so I used my tape measure to make the un-taped red stripe about 1 1/4 inches wide.  I just measured out from the edge of my 1st strip of blue tape and placed the next strip of blue tape 1 1/4 inches from the edge of the 1st strip.  You may have to work with this a little but these measurements kinda worked for me.  All my stripes are not the same width, but they are close enough that you can't tell.

4.  I also went ahead and taped off where the blue section would be.  I just let my 3rd white stripe be the edge of the blue.  This means I just laid a full strip of blue tape down as if I were making a full white stripe.  Then I used my tape measure to measure down 6 inches and placed a piece of tape INSIDE this measurement, going the opposite of the red and white stripes.   This looked right for my mat.  

5.  Then continue placing blue tape to make red and white stripes.   I just started tape on the blue tape that I was using as the edge/mask of the rectangle to be painted blue.  Remember this white rectangle you have is going to be painted blue, just not yet.  Leave it white and don't put any tape or paint in this rectangle.   The outside edge of the 2 pieces of blue tape that form your rectangle is going to be the outside edge of your blue painted rectangle.  I went along the edges of the tape with my finger just to push it down so none of the paint would go under it. 

6.  After all is taped, squirt some of the red paint in your plate and use paint brush to fill in white spaces, other than the white rectangle you will be painting blue.  I let it dry for about 5 or 10 minutes and then took the tape off.  Be careful not to smear your paint.  If any of the red paint gets on the white stripes, use a wet paper towel to try and wipe it off.  Read the directions on your paint to make sure it cures correctly.  I used the multi surface paint because it is supposed to stick to plastic.  This isn't rigid plastic, so I am hoping it will hold up for a few years.  But time will tell. 

7.  I let the paint dry for a few hours, then came back with the blue tape and put it over the 2nd red stripe from the right.  I tried to get it right on the edge.  Then I placed a piece of tape along the edge of where I want the bottom of my blue section to be.  Over the red and white stripes, being careful to get it right on the edge of the white rectangle and the edges of the red and white stripes.   Go over the edge with your finger to make sure it is pressed down well. 

8.  Put some blue paint on your plate and use paint brush to cover rectangle.  Let dry for 5 or 10 minutes and remove tape.  Be careful not to get any of the paint on any other part of the flag.  Allow to dry thoroughly.  Read your paint instructions and let paint cure.  Just leave the flag on the parchment paper.  I found this worked best.

9.   Once it is cured, peal flag off of parchment paper, flip it over on its other side and lay it back on the parchment paper.  I cut my dowel rod to a length that gave me about an inch on each side of the flag.  Squirt a bead of E6000 glue down one side of the dowel and lay that side down on the top edge of the top of your flag.  Press it down a little and allow to dry.  

10.  Once glue is dry and flag is secured to dowel, cut a lenght of string or ribbon or whatever you are using as a hanger.  I just tied each end of the string to one of the ends of the dowel.  You may want to add a dab of glue to hold it in place.  Your flag is ready to hang. 

My dog watching me take a picture

A patriotic lace flag to make for the 4th of July

Now, I have to say, this flag was not my idea.  I have see them for sale on ETSY, just type in " rustic American lace flag" and you should find some.  But I thought I would make my own.  I think the ones on ETSY are made with lace ribbon, but I bought some lace panels and cut them into strips.  There is also some yarn and rick/rack thrown in. 

I want to warn you, I am not much for measuring.   And I sure as heck didn't measure when I was making this.  I think it is a fact that stopping to measure interferes with the creative process and if it isn't a fact someone needs to change that.  I have gone back to the finished product and measured what is there.  I tried my best to guestimate.

This flag is about 18 inches across and 17 inches high about another 2 inches make up the dowel ends.  When I was making it I was thinking about hanging it in a spot where both sides could be seen.  So my description and instructions are as if I were doing that.  I think that is the reason it looks so poofy.  But I ended up liking it that way.

I realized after taking these pictures I should have straightened my door mat out, oh well.  

The bunting and pin wheels were bought at my local "In Home" store.   I'm sure you can get the bunting in a lot of stores, but I haven't seen these large pin wheels anywhere else.  They are about  16 inches across. They look really cool when they are all spinning.

What I used for this project:

Wooden dowel, one of the ones that is fairly thick in diameter, cut to about 20 inches long. I just used a little       hand saw.
Gold craft paint
Foam paint brush
Small drill bit
Drill
3 or 4 panels of different patterned white lace fabric,  I bought mine at Hancock Fabrics.  Each panel is about 60 inches wide, I got about a yard in each panel.
2 panels of different patterned red lace fabric.  Again I got mine at Hancock Fabrics.   Each panel is about 60 inches wide, I got about a yard of each.
Blue fabric with white stars, again I got this a Hancock Fabrics.  If I was doing this over again, I would just get some denim and paint some stars on it.  You will need about a quarter of a yard of whatever fabric you use.
Craft glue
Fluffy, Fuzzy white yarn
Red Ric/Rack
Red Ribbon of some sort.
Monofilament for a hanging thread.
Scissors

To Make this:

1.  First I cut my dowel rod to the 20 inch length.

2.  Paint it with the gold craft paint and allow to dry. 

3.  For the hanger.  Use your drill to make a hole in each end of the dowel going through the sides, not the ends.  Go in about 1 1/2 inches from end and drill your holes.  Make sure you drill them in the same  spot on each side.  I  sort of thought of the rod as having a top and a bottom.  I drilled through the  "top" all the way through.   I suppose you could use some sort of glue and just tie them on, but this did not  seem very secure to me. 

4.  I threaded my monofilament through the hole on each end.  I then tied it to make it secure.

5.  Next I got my lace panels and cut them into strips.  I cut them about 2 1/2 inches wide.  I didn't cut the length, just left it as it was.   Now, if you are one of those people who have a rotary cutter and a plastic cutting mat, this should be pretty fast and neat for you.  But I don't have any of that fancy stuff, so my strips are not very neat.

6.  I started in the middle and tied 3 strips of different white lace on the dowel.  You may want to use a dab   of glue to help hold them in place.  I didn't, but that is up to you.  I was a little unsure of how this was to end up and I wanted to be able to add and subtract as needed. 

7.  I cut 6 strips of the fuzzy white yarn about 64 inches long.  They will be handing below your ribbon, but I just went along and trimmed it to length when I was done.  I took three of the lengths of yarn  and tied them onto the dowel on one side of the ribbon.   I just bunched the three together and tied them on as a group.  Repeat on other side of ribbon.

8.  I probably scrunched them together more than I should have as this flag is verrrry full and poofs out a lot. With that being said, continue to fill in with the strips of lace and yarn.  Do what looks good to your eye.  Fill dowel until you reach the monofilament. I worked my way out from the middle, putting some on one side and then the other, hoping to make it look symmetrical.   I finished with the white before adding any red.

9.  Go in and place your red lace strips, rick/rack, red ribbon or whatever you are using.   I just did this by eye, no real measuring(I hate to measure).  I mixed it up hoping to make it look random.  I tied them on just like the white. 

10.  I then cut my blue fabric into about a  25 x 19 piece.  I just put it over the one side on top of the lace strips.  I did run a bead of glue along the top of the the lace and then placed the blue fabric  on top of  that.  I did this  to hold the blue fabric in place. I also ran a bead of glue down one of the strips of lace and pushed the blue fabric onto that, just to make it stay put.