Flag Making

Go into a Budget Marine and you will likely have to fork out between $20 and $30 for a small country courtesy flag depending on the location. This left a sour taste in both of our mouths but there was not a lot we could do about it. We wanted to follow boating etiquette by showing courtesy to the countries that we have the pleasure of visiting but there were no other options unless we managed to find a cheaper one in a local souvenir shop. Might I add that most of these flags are only used for a few days / weeks before retired to the bottom of the chart locker. The day rate to use a flag is pretty stiff!

Upon returning to the UK for 3 weeks, I planned to make my own flags for all the countries I knew we would be visiting. I succeeded and saved around $400. It's not just about the money savings though, I plan to make a flag collage when we get back to land of all the countries we have visited on our adventure. How much nicer will it be to display our own hand made weather beaten flags as opposed to fraying chinese reproductions. Here's how I did it. When I say I… I mean Dad the chief supervisor/planner, Mum the stitching and ironing queen, Lucy (sister) the quality assurer, my Mum's friend Chrissie the sewing machine guru and me, the designer and painter.

1. Purchased metres and metres of thick cotton material (best to take the fabric paint) from a local haberdashery - £20 (To convert to USD $ multiply by 1.6 - the going rate at time of purchase)

2. Purchased waterproof fabric paint in different colours - £18

3. Purchased white tape for the ends of the flag where the twine goes - £3

4. Purchased thick thread and bigger needles for the sewing machine - £5

5. Purchased some thin paintbrushes - £2

6. Cut out 12" x 8" cardboard rectangle to act as a template for my flag size

7. Drew around the template with a pencil onto the thick cotton material and cut it out

Cardboard template

8. You are now left with cotton rectangles. These need to be hemmed on 3 sides and the flag tape on the left side. I double hemmed the 3 sides (top, bottom and right) by turning the flag sides in 1/4" and ironing it before turning it in again a further 1/4". 

Folding first hem over 1/4"

Ironing the first 1/4" hem

Folding over a second 1/4" hem

9. Once ironed I was left with the left side untouched and 3 sides double hemmed. I secured the hem with 3 pins on each side to hold in place until I sewed it.

Hem, pinned in place prior to sewing on machine

10. Using the sewing machine I (read Chrissie) ran over the 3 pinned sides to secure the double hem.

11. On the left side of the flag I doubled over the edge, folded the flag tape over it and ran a length of twine down it, pinning in place. This part was fiddly! I (Chrissie) then secured the flag tape in place with the sewing machine. 

12. I (mum) strengthened the ends of the flag tape and twine with multiple stitches so they had some chance of surviving strong winds 30ft up our mast. 

13. Knotted a bowline on each end of the twine and used a lighter to stop the ends from fraying.

14. Now all 4 sides had been stitched and hemmed, it was time to start painting. I used a pencil to sketch the designs and then fabric paints to colour it in. To ensure the paint didn't bleed into whatever was underneath the flag, I pinned the flag to a piece of plastic. That way the paint had nowhere to go and the colour wasn't diluted. I also used templates where possible to keep sizing similar.

Drawing in pencil and then painting

Marshall Islands flag completed

Drawing Ecuador flag emblem

Using waterproof fabric pen to being out design

Finished flag

Dad painting the first flag

A star template

Painting Panama flag on a piece of plastic to prevent paint leeching into newspaper

15. Once a flag had been coloured in I pinned it to a block of wood and holding onto the wood, used a hairdryer to more or less dry it. I left the flag overnight to ensure it was totally dry before doing the next stage.

Samoa flag

Palau flag on a block of wood about to be hair dried

16. Once completely dried, I (Mum) put a clean rag over the flag and ironed it on the highest heat for 2 mins. This stage sets the paint ensuring it is waterproof.

17. Finally, I attached a label to each flag to remind me which country it was, no looking on google in the middle of the Pacific!

A quick note here. I realise that I did this flag making process in the modern comfort of a house with unlimited electricity, copious amounts of space and helpers. However, if I were to make my next batch aboard Orion, the only steps I would have to replace are the sewing machine and iron. I would hand stitch instead and use a big pot of boiling water to place on top of a clean rag rather than an iron. 

You need an awful lot of time and patience to do this but during an ocean passage, what a fun way to keep your mind occupied!

End note: The flags are good on one side and "leeched" through on the other side. You could repeat the process on the second side, but at 30ft above ones head and flapping in the wind, no one should be able to tell…