DIY Ghost Flag

Moving to some outdoor decor now.  Been mulling this one over for a couple of weeks, and then just decided to go for it yesterday ~ and it was so quick and easy!  Had to share it with you.

I got my final inspiration from this Friendly Ghost Flag on Kaboose, which is made from white trash bags.  SO smart!  But I wanted a cloth one to hang on my flagpole, so I adjusted it.

I had a remnant of 1/2 yard of white cotton fabric.

I used this, a sharpie, and one pass through the sewing machine.  You could probably also just hot glue it!

First, I ironed and unfolded the fabric, and cut 10" off one narrow end.  I didn't want my ghost to be super long and skinny ; )  But you can make it any length you want.  And if you have a piece of fabric wider than 1/2 yard, that works, too!  Just eyeball it and trim to the width  and length you want, but keep in mind you need some extra length at the top to fold over for the flagpole pocket.

I folded one short end over 1/2" and ironed it.  

Then I put my fabric up next to my storebought flag (that had been on the pole), 

to see how deep the pocket needed to be.  I folded the 1/2" ironed edge over 

another 2 1/2" to make the pocket.

This, I pinned and sewed once near the edge to create the pocket.  You could glue this if you don't sew.

Once that pocket was completed, I laid the flag out flat and sketched in the shape of space between the head and raised arms, right up to about 1/2" under the pocket seam - you still need this pocket the whole way across so don't snip it.  I edited this pic darker so you could see, and marked each space with an X.  This part will be cut out next.

Pinch the fabric to make a snip so you can get your scissors in there, then trim out that marked space.  Repeat on the other side.  Now I didn't pay attention to any properly finished edges here.  I figured, the more see-through and ragged the better, for a ghost flag, so I left all my edges frayed.

Now you have your main ghost shape!  

I chose to trim the bottom edge into sharp, uneven points.  A wavy curve would look good, too, if cutting points makes you nervous.  Anything goes!

Once I had my shape cut, I crumpled and rubbed the fabric together in my palms to start the fraying.

I added a little pointy shaping by the arms, too, that you can see in the next pic.

The last part is the face.  I sketched this on with a pencil and outlined and filled it in with a regular sharpie.  We'll see how it holds up!  You could use fabric paint or hot glue some black scrap fabric on, too.  They used craft foam on the plastic bag ghosts.  You'll want to put a piece of scrap paper underneath if you are using a sharpie, because it will go through a bit.  Probably the same for paint.

I turned my ghost over and traced and filled in the face on the reverse as well, because it will be seen by both sides when it hangs on the flag pole.

Easy peasy, right?  I'm telling you this whole thing took me about 15 minutes to do.

And it's so darn cute hanging out there on the pole!?!  I love my little ghost flag : )

We'll see how it holds up.  Where we live, the weather is very mild this time of year.  Even so, 

I think some exposure to the elements would only make this better, don't you?  But you could use

different materials if you prefer something more outdoor-friendly.  A shower curtain would work great!

I'll be sharing another tutorial and more of my outdoor Halloween Decor on Saturday.

I hope you'll come back and see it!

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