A handful of leftover fabric, a length of narrow ribbon and an evening within reach of the iron is enough to make a string of miniature bunting. The flags are small enough to drape across a single cake and sturdy enough to run along a desk shelf, and not one stitch is required.

This is the project to keep in mind when you have squared up a quilt block, shortened a curtain or finished a cushion cover and cannot quite bring yourself to bin the offcuts. Felt and quilting cotton both work, though they behave differently, so each gets its own method below. Made properly, a short string will survive being folded into a box and brought out again for birthdays and office parties for years.

What You Need

• Fabric scraps. Pieces around 5 cm by 6 cm are plenty for cake-sized flags. Felt, quilting cotton, lawn and lightweight linen all work.
• Ribbon or twine, 3–6 mm wide — narrow ribbon, baker's twine, jute string or unfolded bias binding.
• Fabric glue that dries clear and stays flexible, or double-sided fusible web if you prefer iron-on.
• Scissors, plus pinking shears if you have them.
• A template cut from thin card — a cereal box is ideal.
• Tailor's chalk or a fine pencil for marking the ribbon.
• An iron, a pressing cloth and small clips or pegs.
• Optional: buttons, tiny pompoms, embroidery floss, patterned ribbon.

Felt or Cotton: Choosing Your Scrap

Felt is the forgiving option. It does not fray, it holds a crisp triangle without stiffening, and a single layer is sturdy enough for a flag. Wool-blend felt has a softer hand than the acrylic craft sheets sold in packs, but either cuts cleanly with sharp scissors. For tiny cake bunting, felt is the material to reach for first.

Cotton is the prettier option. Quilting scraps give you prints, and prints are half the point of bunting. The trade-off is fraying, so cotton edges need pinking shears, a folded hem or a fused backing. If you want the look of cotton with the body of felt, glue a cotton front onto a felt back — a neat trick for scraps too small to make a full flag alone.

Cutting the Flags

Two sizes worth making

• Cake bunting: 4 cm across the top edge, 5 cm from top to point. Eight to twelve flags suit a single cake.
• Desk or shelf bunting: 6 cm across, 7–8 cm deep. Twelve to sixteen flags cover roughly a metre of ribbon.

Cut one template and keep it. Trace around it with chalk, then cut just inside the line so the marks do not show. Run pinking shears along the two slanted sides and the bottom point — the zigzag does a surprising amount to stop cotton unravelling. If you want a front and back, cut two of each flag and keep them in pairs. Felt flags can be cut as singles.

No-Sew Assembly, Step by Step

1. Cut the ribbon to length. A cake string needs about 40–50 cm plus 20 cm tails. A desk string is usually 1–1.5 m. Cut generously; trimming later is easy.
2. Press the scraps flat. Wrinkled fabric makes wobbly flags. Iron cotton on a medium setting. Felt can be steamed lightly or simply smoothed flat with your hand.
3. Mark the flag positions with chalk, leaving a 2 cm gap between flags for cake bunting and 3 cm for desk bunting. Keep the first and last 10 cm clear for tying.
4. Attach each flag. For cotton, lay the top edge of a flag under the ribbon, fold the top 1 cm of the flag over the ribbon, and glue the flap down onto the back. For felt, run a thin bead of glue along the top back edge, press the ribbon into it, then glue a small rectangle of felt over the ribbon to hide it.
5. Work along the string, checking that every flag hangs the same way. A glance from the end of the ribbon will catch a twisted flag before the glue sets.
6. Weight it down. Lay the finished bunting flat under a heavy book for an hour, then let it cure for the time stated on the glue bottle — usually overnight.
7. Finish the ends. Knot each tail, or fold a small loop and glue it flat if you want to hook the bunting over a nail or a cake skewer.

If a flag feels loose once the glue has cured, add a dot where the ribbon meets the fold and press again. It is a two-minute fix and it saves the whole string.

Hanging It on a Cake

Two wooden skewers or clean cake dowels, one at each end, are all you need. Push them into the cake board rather than the cake if you would rather not leave holes in the crumb, then tie the ribbon tails a couple of centimetres below the tops and let the string arc gently over the frosting.

Keep the fabric clear of the icing, skip loose glitter and anything that could drop off, and lift the whole string away before you slice. Mini bunting also looks well tied between the two handles of a cake stand, or slung across a small hoop standing behind the cake.

Variations and Small Touches

• Alternate triangles with rectangles or arched scallops for a less uniform look.
• Mix felt and cotton along one string; the texture difference reads as deliberate.
• Glue a small button or a wooden bead at the top of each flag.
• Thread tiny pompoms onto the ribbon between flags.
• Use jute twine and unbleached cotton for a

  Photo: videaki / Pixabay