DIY Candy Corn Fabric Banner

Sweet as candy, this candy corn banner is a pretty addition to your Halloween decorations.

Halloween craft idea

When you think of Halloween, what comes to mind. I think of colorful leaves, cooler weather, costumes, pumpkins and candy corn.  So I wanted to make some sort of Halloween decoration inspired by candy corn. 

While browsing online to get some inspiration, I happened to come across ideas for candy cane banners. Some were made with paper plates, some were made with yarn and some with fabric.  Sewing is one of my favorite hobbies, so I decided to design a Halloween DIY fabric candy corn banner. 

You can get ready for the season by making this cute candy corn banner for your home, classroom or office.  Watch this video or follow the instructions below to create a Halloween banner that's full of fall fun.

Do you like the Halloween wreath in the above photo?  Check out our easy No-Sew Fabric Wreath for Halloween or Fall Tutorial.

If you want more DIY Fall and Halloween craft ideas, we have a roundup with 20+ Fall and Halloween  DIY Craft that include kids crafts, centerpieces, decorations, costumes and lots of autumn crafts.

CUTE CANDY CORN BANNER TUTORIAL

how to sew a candy corn banner

to make the candy corn banner you will need:

• Candy Corn Pattern Sheets - Scroll to the end of this article for the PDF pattern sheets
• Fabric - Yellow, Orange and White
• Fabric - For the back of candy corn
• Black Double Fold Bias Tape or Black Fabric to make your own tape
• Rotary Cutter, Ruler and Mat
• Mary Ellen's Best Press
• Sewing Machine
• Iron and Ironing Board
• Scissors
• Basic Sewing Supplies

Sewing:  Seam allowance 1/4 inch until otherwise specified.

INSTRUCTIONS for making candy corn banner :

pattern preparation

Download and print the two pattern sheets.  With a paper scissor, cut out the pattern pieces.

Cut fabric strips

To make five fabric candy corns, you will need:
-  1/8 yard Yellow Fabric
-  1/8 yard Orange Fabric
-  1/6 yard White Fabric
- 1/3 yard Fabric For the Back of Fabric Candy Corn

Fabric strips will be cut to make the fabric candy corns.  But before cutting the strips, prepare the fabric by spraying it with Best Press to give the fabric body and to iron out any wrinkles.

The first step is to cut the fabric strips. Begin by verifying the width of the pattern pieces.  I can only give you the approximate fabric strip width needed for cutting each color because your printer may distort the actual pattern size slightly.

The approximate size of fabric strips, cut from selvage to selvage:
Yellow Fabric - 3" wide
Orange Fabric - 4" wide
White Strip - 5" wide

PLEASE, measure your cut out pattern pieces before cutting the fabric.

cut pattern pieces

Let's begin cutting the yellow pattern pieces.  The yellow fabric is the top of the candy corn.  Start by folding the yellow strip in half and pin it in a few places to prevent it from shifting as you mark and cut the fabric.

Place the paper pattern on the strip and with your favorite marking tool, I used a pencil, draw a line along the two cutting lines.

If the fabric is not directional, rotate the pattern, line up the side of the pattern with the drawn line and draw the next line.

After drawing all the lines, use a fabric scissor to cut along the marked lines.

Repeat this process for the other two pattern pieces - the orange and the white.

Sewing candy corn pieces together

Chain piece the candy corn pieces together.  What is chain piecing?  It is the process of sewing pieces one after another without removing them from the sewing machine.  This technique saves time and thread.  Here is a tutorial on chain piecing.

First, sew the candy corn top (the yellow piece) and middle pieces (the orange piece) together.  Place them with the pretty sides together.  You will notice that the orange piece is slightly longer than the yellow piece.  Simple center the yellow piece so there is a little orange showing on each edge.

Stitch these two pieces together with a 1/4" seam.  Repeat with the remaining pieces.

After sewing all the orange and yellow pieces, it's time to sew on the white piece.  Again with pretty sides together, center the orange piece on the white piece.  Sew.  Repeat.

pressing 

When you are finished sewing all the pieces together it is time to press them.  I definitely recommend pressing the white seam toward the orange piece so the seam doesn't show through on the front.

I pressed all the seams in the same direction.  Also, press the front nice and flat.

candy corn backing

Decide on the color for the backing fabric.  This is a personal preference.  I used white.

To cut two backing fabrics at a time, fold the backing fabric in half, pin a completed candy corn piece to the fabric to use as a template and cut out all the backing fabric.

Sewing

Take one candy corn piece and one backing fabric and line up all sides with pretty sides together.  Pin, to hold the pieces in place.

Begin stitching along one side from the top toward the pointed end.  There is no need to backstitch.  Continue stitching the side until you get near the bottom edge.   Stop stitching with the needle down a little more than a 1/4 inch from the end.  Pivot the fabric,

take two straight stitches along the bottom, pivot and sew up the second side.
Leave the top unstitched.

Trimming and turning

Before turning the fabric candy corn right side out, trim the excess fabric from the tip and also trim side seams on an angle at the tip making sure not to cut into the stitches.  Refer to the above photo for an example of the trimming.

It is time to turn the candy corn to the pretty side.  Turn the fabric right side out and with your favorite poking tool, poke out the tip of the fabric.  Because of the two small stitches make at the tip, you will get a nice point at the tip.

Press it nice and flat by applying some Best Press which will help to make it a little stiff.

Another thing you can do is to edgestitch all the way around the fabric candy corn.  Our edgestitch tutorial may be helpful.  I personally like the look without the edgestitching.  

Continue making as many fabric candy corns as you want for your banner.

attaching

Upon completing all your candy corns, it is time to attach them to something so you can hang them in your home.  You could purchase Black Double Fold Bias Tape or you could make the binding tape yourself with black fabric.  And that is exactly what I did.

If you are using purchased Black Double Fold Bias Tape, skip ahead to the finishing section.

making binding tape

For my project, I have five fabric candy corns so I will need binding tape about 60" long.  I cut strips of fabric 2" wide.

To make a continuous strip, the desired method of joining the strips is with a diagonal seam because the seam will be less conspicuous.

Place one strip on a flat surface with the right-side-up. Place the second strip, right-side down, on top of the first strip at a 90-degree angle. The ends of each strip should extend beyond each other to make sure the selvage does not get sewn into the binding.

Line up a ruler across the two intersections diagonally and draw a line using your marker of choice from corner to corner. To make sure the fabrics do not shift when sewing, carefully pin them together.

Move to the sewing machine and using a straight stitch, sew along the drawn line.

Trim off the excess fabric with a rotary cutter or scissors leaving a seam allowance of ¼”.  Trim off the little dog ears or triangular piece at the end of the seam.

With an iron, press the seams open.

Next, fold the 2" fabric strip in half lengthwise and press forming a center crease and fold.  This turns the 2" wide strip into a 1" wide strip.

Reopen the strip, being careful not to burn your hand, fold one raw edge to the center crease and press.  Repeat with the other raw edge.

Fold it again on itself.  You now have a 1/2" wide binding tape.

finishing

To attach the fabric candy corns to the binding tape, leave a binding tape tail approximately 6 to 8 inches long.  Insert the candy corn between the two binding tape folds and pin it in place. 

I wanted my candy corns to be about two inches apart, so I used a sewing guide ruler to measure two inches and pinned the next fabric candy corn.  Of course, you can place them as close to each other or as far away from each other as you like.

After pinning everything in place, go to the sewing machine and edge stitch about an eighth of an inch to a quarter of an inch away from the two folds.  When you get to the candy corns make sure the fabric is tucked between the two folds before stitching. 

Continue stitching all the way along the binding tape.

You don't have to, but I wanted the ends of the binding tape to have a neat finished appearance.  To finish the ends of the tape, fold the raw edge back on itself about 1/2".  Then fold it back again 1/2". Tack these layers together by sewing a small zig-zag stitch back and forth a couple of times.

The ends of the banner's binding tape should look like the above photo.

Viola!  The Halloween candy corn banner is completed and ready for you to hang on the wall, across the mantel, over the door or even lay on a table as part of the table centerpiece.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

More Fun Halloween and Fall Craft Projects can be found on our Pinterest Page.

Happy Fall Fun!
Annette

 

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