Prayer Flags

Being away from The Underground 6 months of the year, I haven’t had much to share in the way of crafts. A friend’s art club is thinking about making prayer flags as a group project. Having made a number of prayer flags, I offered to share a bit of insight here on the blog.

I am not an artist, but have been a crafter as long as I can remember. I ran across an article about the Prayer Flag Project in a Cloth, Paper Scissors’ magazine in 2012. I was hooked. There is no right or wrong way to make them and, since they are made to hang outside in the elements, there is no need for perfection. It is an excellent way to use scraps and to try new techniques.

Below are directions copied from ThePrayer Flag Project website.

Here's Vivika DeNegre's tutorial on how to make a prayer flag. Feel free to be creative and change them to fit your own style. The dimensions used here are 5”x 8” dimension with a 3” hanging area (12.5 x 20.5 cm with a 7.5 cm hanging area) as described below.  Do sign and date your flag. Let me know via email that you are “praying along” and include a photograph of your work or link to a blog so I can post about your flags as well.

Also you can post your flags on our flickr group.

1. Create a place to thread a string by folding one short end over to the back by 3” and press, making a rectangle approximately 5”x8”.  

2. Choose a theme for your prayer, and embellish your flag with paper, painting, stitch, embroidery, buttons, etc.  You are only limited by your imagination and your stash.  Examples of flags can be seen on our flickr group.

3. Add words or journaling to your flag using free motion stitching, hand stitching or simply by writing in a permanent marker.

4. Sign and date your flag.

5. Join the Prayer Flag project (how to participate)

6. Hang it outside!

You will notice, nothing is said about hemming the edges. If you take a look at mine, you will notice most edges are hemmed.

Positive Prayer Flags

I participated in an artist Positive Prayer Flag exchange in 2017, none of the flags I received had hemmed edges, so I no longer hem mine. I wish I could share the beautiful, artistic flags I received, but I am not sure about copy rights and would not want to infringe.

When I am asked to do a workshop, I will take a width of fabric, cut it to an 11-inch length, fold down 3-inches, sew it and then cut into 5-inch widths, making several 5”X 8”-inch flags. Remember these will eventually disintegrate in the elements, so there is no need to back-tack.

As for fabric, I use whatever I have on hand. I really like using Everbilt drop cloth from Home Depot.It takes stenciling really well and the thread pulls easily for a fringe.

And it is inexpensive! (I use drop cloth in a lot of my crafts. It is a good idea to wash the cloth first.)

Pinterest and Instagram  are excellent places to find inspiration.

Click here to see some of my flags.

I hope the art club has a fun evening making Prayer Flags.

As for me, I will be living in a 200 square foot RV for the next few months. I have colored pencils, my Featherweight (aka Miss Wilma) and a bit of fabric with me. Maybe I will create something to blog about.

Nature Theme Prayer Flags

What does one do when a Prayer Flag Swap is cancelled? Finish the flags and hang them in the breeze, of course! One of the reasons I like doing prayer flags is to experiment with various techniques and products without concern of perfection. Since I will not be swapping with other artist, the pressure is off and I can just have fun. (But I will miss receiving truly beautiful art from others in the swap.)

Having bought a new printer for the RV and knowing I would be creating while traveling, I chose to experiment with printing on fabric for this project. This sweet little Epson WF-100 is not much larger than a book.

(I prefer Epson printers for fabric printing as they use the Dura Brite ink that doesn’t smear and is pretty much water proof.)

Usually I adhere fabric to either heavy duty freezer paper or to the sticky side of a full size mailing label (my preferred method) before sending it through the printer. Since we were traveling in a small RV I needed to limit my supplies so I took along June Taylor Fabric Sheets for ink jet printers.

Using photos from our winter trip, I cropped and sized them in Photoshop Elements and printed them on the fabric sheets. It was a long drive across the country, so I embellished with embroidery as I rode along (no, I don’t drive The Wanderer.) When I arrived home, I stitched a casing and added eyelash trim. 

The printer performed perfectly, no jamming or ink smears.

Fabric pens travel nicely (aren’t messy like fabric paint ;) I used Tulip Fabric Pens  to paint on drop cloth (which is becoming a favorite canvas.) Adding buttons, beads and a couple little butterflies, it is quite a cheerful little flag.

Now that I am back in The Underground, I have choices. My plan is to finish those projects I have started before I began something new. With a head full of ideas and a wide selection of supplies, I bet that doesn’t happen.  And now I hear my garden calling…..and I must go.

An Artsy Community at it’s Best

Winter has come to an end and not soon enough for a number of you. Handy Randy and I had a fun time exploring in the warm southwestern  states. Currently we are back with family (and consistent, but slow internet)  in College Station, Texas. Now that I do not have to be so mindful of data use I will share a bit of my finds while traveling.

Bisbee, Arizona continues to be one of our favorite places to hang out,

explore and do a lot of walking stair climbing. 

And it is so artsy!

More details about this quirky, artsy town can be found on our retirement blog,  Living Richly in Retirement 

It was my intention to experiment with colored pencil drawing during our Winter 2018 trip; Bisbee provided some very interesting and colorful subjects. 

Looking forward to getting home and catching up with my mentors at PAPA Gallery. And I have a good friend and pastel artist who as agreed to give me some instructions in working with pastels. Exciting times ahead!