Make this Sweet and colorful DIY fabric banner, perfect for diy baby gifts and nursery decor! Follow this step-by-step tutorial to learn how to create your own with the Cricut EasyPress.
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I’ve been dreaming about a cute gallery wall on this side of the nursery for over a year and I finally made it happen last weekend! (See a quick video of how I hung the gallery wall over on Instagram.)
It all started when I made this adorable DIY fabric banner with my Cricut Maker. Once that cute purple alphabet banner was done I knew it was destined to be featured within a colorful gallery wall!
This project was the perfect excuse to bust out my handy EasyPress 2. It’s such a handy crafting tool for iron-on projects like this one! I shared all about the EasyPress 2 and what it does in last week’s blog post.
Today’s blog post is a detailed step-by-step tutorial for making your very own DIY fabric banner. This is such a cute DIY baby gift idea and makes the cutest nursery decor.
Check out my Complete Guide to Cricut Heat Presses for a deep dive into all things Cricut heat presses
Related Articles:
- What Is The Cricut EasyPress 2 And Do You Need One?
- What materials does the Cricut Maker cut? [A look at my new Cricut cutting machine]
- DIY Christmas Shirt For Kids (made with the EasyPress!)
How To Make This DIY Fabric Banner
This DIY fabric banner was so fun to make! I loved perusing all of the iron-on materials Cricut carries and landed on jewel tone colors (my fav) in three different types of material: metallic, holographic sparkle, and glitter.
Supply list
- Fabric (Prewash it beforehand. I used the purple fabric from Cricut’s Blue Caroline Designer Fabric Sampler.)
- Iron-On Hem Tape
- Blue Holographic Sparkle
- Aqua Glitter Iron-On
- Silver Everyday Iron-on
- Cricut EasyPress 2
- Cricut Maker
- EasyPress Mat
- StandardGrip Cutting Mat
- Weeding Tool
- Wooden Dowel
- String
- Scissors or a Rotary Cutter
- Pencil or Fabric Pen
- Self-Healing Mat (optional)
- Cricut BrightPad (optional)
Related Article: What Is The Cricut EasyPress 2 And Do You Need One?
STEP 1: CUT YOUR FABRIC INTO A rectangle
Cut your fabric into a rectangle the dimensions you want your final banner plus add 2 inches to the width and 3 inches to the height.
Banner Dimensions = (Final Banner Width + 2 inches) x Final Banner Height + 3 inches)
My banner is 10” wide x 15” tall.
Either a rotary cutter, fabric scissors or regular scissors will work for cutting your fabric. I used this self-healing mat because its measurement grid makes measuring your project super easy.
STEP 2: CUT YOUR FABRIC INTO A PENNANT SHAPE
Next, mark the center of the short end of the fabric. This will be the center of the triangle you will cut out to make the pennant shape.
Measure 2 inches in from that center mark and make a mark. Use a ruler to draw diagonal lines from that mark to the two corners of the fabric. The photo below is probably easier to understand than me explaining it. You can adjust the size of this triangle if you want a little different look.
Cut along the two diagonal lines to achieve your pennant shape.
STEP 3: HEM THE BANNER EDGES
Turn on your EasyPress 2 and set to 315°F. Once it’s warm (this is quick), do a quick test on a fabric scrap to double check that the heat won’t harm your fabric.
Cut a strip of hem tape to the length of one fabric edge. Line the hem tape up flush with the fabric edge and fold the fabric over to create a straight hem. If you have trouble folding the corners neatly, cutting the hem tape at a diagonal will help.
For the inside point of the triangle, cut a straight line 1 inch long. This will allow you to fold the fabric over onto each diagonal piece of hem tape.
Carefully place your hot EasyPress 2 over the folded fabric for a few seconds to activate the iron-on hem tape. You don’t need to move the EasyPress 2 around like you would an iron, instead just hold it in place with light pressure for a few seconds before moving it.
Repeat on each edge of the fabric.
For the top edge of your banner, fold over an extra inch of fabric so you end up leaving an open gap between the hem tape and the folded top edge of the fabric. This creates a small slot that you can slide a dowel through.
After you finish hemming your DIY fabric banner, turn off the EasyPress 2 and set it aside for later.
Related Article: What Is The Cricut EasyPress 2 And Do You Need One?
STEP 4: CREATE YOUR DESIGN IN CRICUT DESIGN SPACE
Open Cricut Design Space (free software that comes with your Cricut machine) on your computer or phone and create your alphabet.
I used the Cricut Sans font and made capital letters, then arranged them to fit the size of my fabric banner. Make sure you create the letters all as individual text boxes so you have the flexibility to easily rearrange them.
It’s also helpful to add a rectangle shape to your project that matches the size of your banner to serve as a guide for your letters.
Once you are happy with the layout, change the colors of each letter. I chose three pretty colors of iron-on vinyl and used letter colors that corresponded with the colors of my vinyl so I could visualize the end result.
Randomly alternate your colors throughout your design until you like the look.
Once you are satisfied with the design, select all of the letters of one color and choose the “ATTACH” option from the bottom right menu on your screen. Repeat this for all of your colors.
By attaching the letters, you are telling your Cricut machine to cut them out in that exact layout which is important because otherwise, your machine will jumble all of the letters together so you waste as little vinyl as possible.
Here’s a screenshot of what I mean by your letters getting jumbled if you forget to attach them to each other. Don’t do this or you will have to cut, position, and iron on each individual letter in the proper spot on your banner.
STEP 5: CUT OUT YOUR DESIGN
Once your design is ready, click “MAKE IT” and double check that everything will cut correctly. Your Cricut will automatically position each different color of your design on its own cutting mat so you can cut them out of different sheets of material.
On the next screen, you will be asked to select the type of material you are cutting. You’ll also need to mirror your image for iron-on vinyl (this is an important step!).
Now stick a sheet of iron-on onto your cutting mat, glossy plastic side face down.
Load the cutting mat into your Cricut and press the flashing button on your machine to begin cutting.
Once one color is done cutting, gently remove the iron-on material from your cutting mat and place the next color of material onto the mat.
Insert the mat back into your machine and follow the on-screen prompts to cut the next color.
Here’s a Youtube video that shows every little step of the cutting process:
STEP 6: WEED YOUR DESIGN
Once your design is cut out, you’ll need to remove the excess vinyl from the shiny plastic backing. This process is called “weeding”. The weeding tool has a little hook at the end that helps pick up all of the little pieces like the center of O’s, for instance.
Next, slowly pull off all of the blank vinyl so you are eventually left with your individual letters stuck to the plastic backing.
In the below photo, you can see how my silver letters looked on the plastic backing once I finished wedding off the excess vinyl material.
Repeat this step for all of your colors.
Quick Tip: Weeding is best done with bright light so you can distinguish your letters and know which part of the material needs to be removed. The Cricut BrightPad is not a necessity but I definitely find it helpful when weeding. You place your iron-on material on top of the BrightPad so it line shines through the cut lines making it easier to see your design.
STEP 7: HEAT UP THE EASYPRESS 2 AND APPLY YOUR DESIGN TO THE BANNER
Turn on your EasyPress 2 and set the temperature. Your temperature will vary based on the type of material you are using.
Check out the Cricut EasyPress Reference Guide. to see what temperature you should use for your project. This chart will also tell you how much time to put on your EasyPress timer.
The Cricut EasyPress 2 is designed specifically for iron-on projects like this one. Yes, you can use a household iron. But an iron doesn’t heat evenly and you’ll find it more difficult to achieve a flawless finish.
I shared a ton of details about the EasyPress 2 in last week’s post if you want to read a lot more detail about what it does and how it works.
Stick one of your plastic sheets of letters down onto your DIY fabric banner. Take extra care to center your design and make sure it’s straight. I like to use a level to make sure my designs don’t wind up crooked.
Place your project on top of an EasyPress mat or a folded towel to protect your work surface from the heat.
Place your warm EasyPress 2 down on top of your letters and set the timer per the instructions on the Cricut EasyPress Reference Guide.
Instead of moving your EasyPress around like an iron, you want to hold it in one place for the full length of time. Then pick it up and place it down on any other areas that still need to be ironed.
Check the Cricut EasyPress Reference Guide to see if you should peel of your plastic backing sheet warm or cold.
Warm Peel = Remove the plastic backing sheet while your project is still warm to the touch but no longer hot. You can still usually peel it up if it cools completely, but that will require more effort.
Cool Peel = Remove the plastic backing sheet once your project has cooled completely. Your iron-on material may stretch, peel, or bubble if you remove the backing while it’s still warm.
Repeat this step for all of your letter colors. Since you cut them out in the exact arrangement they need to be, it is pretty easy to line up the next set of colors with the ones that are already ironed on.
After you finish applying your letters, step back and admire your finished design!
Related Article: What Is The Cricut EasyPress 2 And Do You Need One?
Step 8: Add a dowel and string
Once your iron-on project is complete, all that’s left to do is add the dowel and string so you can hang your DIY fabric banner.
Simply slide a small dowel through the slot at the top of your banner and tie string to each end.
This DIY fabric banner looks so cute hanging in Chloe’s colorful room. It’s just what I needed to complete this fun gallery wall.
This Cricut project looks so sweet in a nursery and makes an adorable baby gift. You can customize it with any colors you want and Cricut iron-on material comes in all sorts of fun types like glitter, holographic sparkle, metallic, and more. You could use this tutorial as a guide for creating a DIY fabric banner with baby’s name on it.
I am just loving my new Cricut Maker and am so glad this alphabet banner motivated me to create a cute and colorful gallery wall in Chloe’s room. It’s just the thing that blank wall needed!
Looking for more Cricut projects? Take a look at these:
- What Is The Cricut EasyPress And Do I Need One?
- What materials does the Cricut Maker cut? [A look at my new Cricut cutting machine]
- DIY Labels Made With Vinyl And The Cricut Maker
- DIY Christmas Shirt For Kids (made with the EasyPress!)
- Colorful DIY Valentine Popcorn Boxes and Printable Valentine Gift Tags
Have a great day!
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