Freak Flags

You've probably heard of (Tibetan) prayer flags. They look like this in their traditional, authentic state:

• Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, which is a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space.--Wiki

They've been a DIY, crafty project for years now - with the same messages of promoting peace and strength and all that, but they tend to be much more embellished and artsy than the traditional flags.

Click image for link to a tutorial

You can find a bunch more tutorials for different DIY varieties of flags. Here are some I came across:

--No-Sew Prayer Flag by Linda Israel
--The Prayer Flag Project Tutorial List

Being weirdos, I thought it would be fun to make our own "freak flags" - similar to prayer flags in size and display, but properly weird & wacky.

How?

Your freak flag needs to be constructed out of fabric but you are not required to sew at all. If you do sew, you don't have to be Martha Stewart perfect either. You can use scrap fabric, recycled fabric, an old blouse, canvas bag material - go for it. Do not be afraid to experiment.

Through some research, I've found most DIY how-tos start with getting a 5" x 11" piece of fabric and folding over the long side 3" to make a header pocket for the flag to hang from. This will leave you with a 5" x 8" flag. You can also cut a piece of fabric to 5" x 8" and apply some sort of hanging loops along the top (do make sure they are at least 1" to accommodate different hanging apparatus).

After you have your base, sky's the limit! Decorate your flag with appliques, beading, lace, pom-poms, ribbon, sequins, buttons, papers - don't be shy. Tacky is beautiful. You can dye or screen print your flag...or add fabric medium to acrylic paint and hand paint your flag. There is no wrong way to decorate it.

The "Prayer"

We will NOT be adding traditional, peaceful, soothing sentiments to our flags. Think more irreverent and along the lines of random, weird or funny thoughts and dreams for your partner. Pro-weirdo quotes. Steven Wright jokes. Out-of-context movie quotes. Whatever.

This swap is completely sender's choice. As long as you make an irreverent flag, sized 5" x 8" (give or take 1/4" for human error) with a part to hang it on something, you're good.

Because our flags could become bulky depending on materials used, I'm making this a USA-only swap. BUT if you'd like to host an international version within the group do feel free, using this description in part or whole. (If you want to host it elsewhere, make your own dang description.)

I would LOVE to make this a recurring swap, so we can collect a bunch of freak flags to hang up! Please comment and let me know if you'd like more of these swaps. I can't know if you don't say. ^_^

Additional hostie note: be a good weirdo; send on time, rate promptly & fairly, communicate when problems arise. If something should go sideways and there's a flaker among us, I will angel.