Celebrate Your Family With 3 DIY Custom Fabric Photo Banners

No matter what occasion you have the entire family together, there’s no better time to look through old family albums and learn more about your family’s history. While flipping through one of her family’s vintage photo albums, Spoonflower designer and maker Shalae Tippets went on a hunt to learn all about her family’s rich past. This eventually led her to the creation of a vintage family photo garland. This fat quarter project is just the decor your family gathering needs. See how Shalae digitized her family photos and get ready to make your very own custom fabric banner for any special occasion. Click here to jump to this project without the sewing and click here for how to create a banner with no photos.

Shalae: My love for family history started as a young girl and has only increased over the years as I learned more about the stories of my ancestors. As I started my own family, it became very important to me to help my own children know and love their ancestors like I did. Studies have shown that children have a greater resiliency and identity when they know the stories of their own past and are better able to cope with challenges. They also have a greater appreciation for the sacrifices that were made so they could enjoy the opportunities they have now.

This desire has led me to combine my creative artistic talents and my love of family history together by creating games, books, stories and activities that my six children could enjoy.

Recently I have explored using Spoonflower to create custom family gifts to also share with my kids and extended family. The first one I created was custom tea towels of a family recipe from an ancestor. I typed up the recipe and included the real handwritten card if I had it. I then tried to replicate some aspect of the recipe through decorative items or food. The final design element was pictures of the ancestor. 

It was my first time printing on Linen Cotton Canvas. When my first towel arrived in the mail, I was so excited about how beautiful it looked. I have been addicted ever since and can’t stop making them!  It almost feels like each towel is a memorial to my grandmothers who have sacrificed so much and cooked hundreds of meals over the years to feed their families.

This family heirloom garland project will help you showcase your loved ones and hopefully be the means for many questions and conversations about them.

Where do you find family pictures? If you don’t have any, you might know a relative who does. My grandmother was the family historian. One of the best memories I have is going to her house for two solid days with my mother and aunt to scan all of her photos, documents and stories. It worked out so well because she identified the people so we could label them and learn the stories about the photo. We labeled over 1000 images in those few days. What a gold mine. It was so fun to see her get excited about what we could now do with digitized images, but she was also so happy to know that someone in her family cared and wanted them. I am so grateful I acted on that little push inside to just go and do it. She died unexpectedly a year later. 

You probably have someone just like her in your family. Offer to help them digitize their pictures. Scanners are portable and easy to take and set up with a laptop. Also, have your family member tell you about the members in the pictures. Here are some good suggestions for scanning.

If you don’t have access to a scanner, you can look for one at your local copy shop, libraries, colleges, and local family history centers. There are many affordable ones as well to purchase if you know you would use it regularly.

I also use Family Search to find images of ancestors. It is the largest database of family history information, and it’s free to sign up for an account. I use this a lot to share the digital images I have with family members, and other relatives can share theirs with me!

Let’s begin! 

Pro tip: If you’d like an extra long garland or want to make multiple garlands as gifts, order one yard of fabric to repeat your first set of images three additional times. 

If you’re not making a reversible garland, use one of the garland pieces as a pattern to cut out 10 back pieces from your fabric of choice. Pin the right sides of a front and back piece together. 

Using matching thread, stitch around the sides and curved edge, leaving the top open for turning. Carefully clip the curved edges of the garland piece (pictured above) and then turn rightside out. 

Iron each piece flat and smooth along the edges before going back and doing a top stitch seam along the edges for a finished look.

Starting in the middle, lay the pieces out on your bias tape, evenly spacing them so that you have enough bias tape at the end to have ties for hanging. Once you have them arranged the way you want, place each piece inside the folded bias tape and pin.

Sew along the open edge of the bias tape attaching each garland piece to your hanging strip. Fold the ends of the bias strip inside and sew along edges to create a finished look.

You are now ready to hang your garland and show off your family!

Looking for even more ways to celebrate your family’s history? Try out these two additional family heirloom projects!

About the Guest Author

Check out this adorable 1st birthday photo banner made by former Spoonflower member, Suz! If you want to skip the sewing, grab a piece of ribbon or twine, some mini clothespins and pinking shears. Then follow these steps.

Pro tip: To make sure your pennants are centered, start with the 6-month image.

This one requires a bit of graphic design knowledge. If you’re familiar with Adobe Illustrator or any other image editing program, this should be a breeze!

Here’s how Rae from the Armommy company put her banners together once she ordered her fabric.

These three ways of creating custom fabric banners should have you well on your way to adding personalization to your next celebration.

Be sure to share your creations with your world and ours by tagging @spoonflower on social media!