The back of the Banner - finishing

I'd got the back of the Banner put together, but that wasn't it finished - there was still quite a bit of work to do.  Firstly, and the single biggest job remaining, I needed to sort out the back.

Even though it won't be seen, the back needs to be neat to make sure the Banner lies as flat as possible.  As the fabrics it's made from are quite thick, this wouldn't be possible without doing something to neaten up the seams.

Here's the back as it was immediately after finishing putting the pieces together:

Not too pretty, is it!  To tidy things up, I first pinned the seams flat:

Then used herringbone stitch to stitch them to the linen lining fabric, using a matching thread:

I was very careful to make sure that none of the stitches came through to the velvet, so this is completely invisible from the front.

With all the seams stitched down, the back looks much better:

It also helps support the piece, making it a little firmer; this wasn't intentional, but it's useful none the less.

So here's the front of the back, if you see what I mean, with the seams nice and flat and the corners trimmed:

It's still not finished though - I need to add braid around the central panel.  I used a curved needle, and used ladder stitch to stitch it in place:

It really lifts it, doesn't it:

The braid has been specially woven to match the red and yellow colours in the Banner, and its chequerboard design also echoes the flag of Northumbria.

I'm still not quite finished, though.  The Banner will be carried using a vertical pole with a crosspiece along the top (and more on that later). I don't want the Banner flapping around or swinging forwards, which would make it very difficult to carry, so I've added loops on the back for the pole to fit through.

These are in the same velvet with linen lining as the rest of the Banner, carefully marked so that the grain of the velvet is going in the same direction as that of the Banner itself:

These pieces were edged, stitched, had their seams stitched down, and turned right side out:

Then stitched to the panel, using ladder stitch again.  The pole will be 35mm in diameter; I found a tube that was 39mm, so a little wider, but I thought that if it could pass through, the pole itself should be fine:

So here's the Banner back finally finished:

Now for the front...