cheat's bunting

If truth be told I'm still recovering from a v.busy weekend: On saturday Mitch and I journeyed to Essex to visit his parents, on the way home from the trip we spontaneously decided to drop by Hyde Park to watch some of the games on the big screens (which was actually really fun and I wished we'd done it earlier) and saw team GB's Campbell beat his Irish opponent to win the gold medal in boxing! On sunday we held our first ever BBQ in our little Brixton garden. I say 'we' but Mitch did all the food - jerk chicken (fast becoming his signature dish), goat curry, potato salad (with a german twist), red cabbage coleslaw and a beetroot salad. I helped out where I could - chopping vegetables, setting up the chairs and tables in the garden - but Mitch pretty much had the situation under control. So, with an hour or so before the guests began to arrive I thought the occasion could do with some bunting (every occasion deserves bunting)! I didn't have time to make the double sided kind so here's what I call cheat's bunting - perfect if you're a little strapped for time!

1. Make a template out of card to the size you'd like the flags to be. Pin the template to the fabric and cut around it using pinking shears.

2. Fold over the short edge of the flag to the wrong side of the fabric (if it has one). This is where the string will pass through so be sure to make a big enough fold (3-4cm should be fine). Stitch the fold in place around 5mm from the raw edge.

3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 to create lots of flags for the bunting.

4. Next you need to thread all the flags onto the string and make sure they're facing the right way (with the fold on the back). I secured a pin to one end of the string and fed it through the casing on each flag. Once all the flags are on make two loops at each end of the string and hey presto, you've got yourself some cheat's bunting! Simple as :)

The BBQ was a great success thanks to Mitch's expert cooking as well as a couple of our friends who also supplied some tasty eats and a bottle of fizz! To top it all off, some people stayed to watch the Olympics closing ceremony - I can't believe how quickly the last two weeks have gone - I've enjoyed every minute of it...roll on the Paralympics I say!