Worship Flags for 1/4 of the Cost

Yesterday my husband helped me make some worship flags.  The day prior I had been looking at separate vendors for purchase.  There are a few types to choose from -- some that swivel on the rod, and others that do not swivel.  From there, there are quite a few styles.  The ones we did yesterday are the bigger, non-swivel flags that look like they emit forth directly from your hand, as if they were an extension of it.  These are the kinds that I see people get by with just one single one, or two if you are skilled.  We made two, for practice and the future, and because we have children.

Now one of the lady flaggers I know told me that the starting price of $40 a pair of those style of flags that I found on from a certain vendor was a really good deal, since most of them start at $70 for that certain style.  When I read that flag maker's technique, how she prays over the flags ordered, I thought how special it would be to do my own, and had hoped to make it even cheaper.  Brant wanted to do it as love offering to me.  

The supplies we needed were:

1 large (4 ft), or 2 smaller (2 ft), fiberglass rods as dowels

2 yards of lame or organza fabric

electrical tape (optional)

I pondered where I would find fiberglass rods.  Since these types of flags have a smaller dowel, wood is just not going to be durable.  I have seen a flexible poly being used as well, but knew that since I am just starting out, a strong fiberglass rod would suit best.  Well, I will tell you I found a fiberglass rod at Home Depot's sign department, right next to where they would have the garage sale signs.  It is a simple reflector rod/stake, and it comes in 4 ft at $2.  I swapped that one up, and my husband took the rotary tool to it to make it 2 2ft rods.  Note, you don't need tools.  Home Depot has saws for customer use sitting in the lumber department.  This rod comes with rubber ends.  Make sure to snatch that up to ensure the end does not jam into your hand when in use, or rip through your fabric.  Though, if you are using electrical tape (later explained), it won't matter much.

Then we wrapped our orange rods up with electrical tape, securing the ends for a smooth finish.  The rods are complete -- moving onto the fabric.

Two yards is more than enough for 2 of these flags, even if you only used one flag in your dance.  Simply cut in half and begin to hem edges.  My end product was 35" x 44" on each flag.  Before I hemmed, I took a lighter to the loose ends to ensure they would not unravel in the sewing process.  This fabric is very delicate and I did not want needle snags to turn into fabric coming undone.  

Now you have a rectangle.  On the smaller edge, I folded over 7/8" once, pinned, then rolled over again, releasing first pin to repin the second fold.  This is for the pole.  Then we hemmed.  I only hemmed 2 ft (plus 2 inches, will explain why later) from the top of that smaller side because the rod is only 2 ft long and I want the excess to hang like a wing off of my hand.  I've seen most will cut around that area to accencuate that wing piece.  It will do fine on its own if you just let if freely hang, like I explained.  

So that extra 2 inches on the rod's side is so that you have enough fabric to fold over where the top of the pole would be, securing the fabric's integrity, that the pole does not rip through your fabric.  Once this is done, you simply slip the rod in and the flag is ready for use.  Notice, we did not secure the other end of the fabric to the rod.  This is because you will be holding that end -- it is not needed.  This also allows you to have a removeable rod for other flags.  Picture of handheld end, below.

Ta-da!  The best part?  The grand total was $12.