Gold heat transfer foil and burgundy fabric were my best friends when I created the decor for my daughter’s Harry Potter birthday party. With them by my side, creating Gryffindor paraphernalia was a snap! From napkins to table runners to the notebooks that each child received in their goodie bag, the gold foil and fabric were essential to making our Gryffindor theme come alive. This pennant is a quick project that really helped to drive the message home. It only involves three seams, so don’t let the sewing scare you away. Whether you’re decorating for a party, or just want to proudly display your Gryffindor pride for all to see, I’ll have you waving your burgundy and gold pennant in no time!

Materials

• burgundy fabric (canvas, apparel, or quilting fabric)
• coordinating thread
• gold foil heat transfer vinyl
• Cricut
• weeding tool
• sewing machine
• fabric scissors
• ruler
• fabric pins

Sewing the Gryffindor Pennant

After downloading the Gryffindor pennant template, print it and tape the pieces together, lining up the triangles. Your pattern should look like this when you’re done:

 Trace the pattern onto your fabric and cut it out. I used cotton canvas because I thought it would look authentic, and also because as luck would have it, I happened to have some on hand. But apparel or quilting fabric are also good options.

Fold the narrow edge of your fabric down 1/2″ with the wrong sides touching and press flat. In order to make the back of the flag look as polished as the front, we’re going to create a double fold to hide the raw edges of the long sides of our triangle. To do this, measure 1/2″ from the edge of both of the angled sides and fold so that the wrong sides of the fabric are touching. Press the folds flat. Repeat these two steps on both sides and pin the folds in place. The folds will overlap to form the tip of the pennant, as shown in the first picture below.

Sew along the edge of the top fold, beginning at the base of the triangle. If you have an edgestitch or topstitching foot, it makes sewing these seams a cinch. I love this foot because it keeps an even distance between the edge of your fabric and the needle so that you can sew perfectly straight seams. Continue sewing until you reach the edge of the fabric. With the needle down, pivot your fabric 90 degrees, and sew a few stitches along the tip of the pennant.

Start a new seam at the point where the two folds overlap and continue sewing along the edge of the second fold toward the base of your triangle. Stop when you reach the end of the angled side. Use your scissors to make a 1″ slit in the fabric just above the top edge of both seams. Then measure 1″ from the edge and fold toward the middle with the wrong sides touching. Press the fold flat. We don’t need a double fold here because our raw edges will be hidden when we create the final seam in the next step.

Measure 1/2″ from the left edge and fold the fabric with the wrong sides touching. Press flat and fold again. Sew along the edge of this fold.

Lion Taming

Upload both the lion and Gryffindor files to your Cricut Design Space. Since we won’t need to print the artwork, you can save them as Cut files. Insert them into a blank canvas and arrange them vertically on your canvas, making sure that they do not overlap. Select both images and press the attach button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen to link them. Click the Make It button in the upper right-hand corner. On the next screen, make sure that you check the mirror button to reverse the image before you press the continue button. Turn the dial on the Cricut to custom and select the foil vinyl setting from the on-screen menu. Place your heat transfer vinyl on your cutting mat with the shiny side down, load the mat into the machine, and begin cutting. So far, so good

Once the machine completes the cut, you’re ready to move on to my least favorite part: weeding the vinyl. I say that not because it’s hard, but because it’s just a little too tedious for my taste. I have to admit that I’m pretty impatient, so this type of task drives me crazy. But it’s a necessary evil if you want a professional-looking flag without paying Wizarding World dollars. Grab your weeding tool and get to work!

Set your iron on high and pass it over your pennant to warm up the fabric. Carefully cut the vinyl to separate the lion and the Gryffindor text, and arrange the pieces so that they are centered between the top and the bottom of your pennant. Apply firm pressure with your iron until the foil adheres to the fabric. Check often by lifting a corner of the plastic. Once it has fully adhered, slowly (and I do mean slowly) peel the plastic off. If you reach a point where the foil hasn’t fully adhered to the fabric, stop and apply more heat to the plastic.

And just like that, you’ve completed your Gryffindor pennant! Cheer on everyone’s favorite quidditch team with the best of ’em!