They're festive banner screens; and they're easy to sew using nylon and window screening

Sunset, August, 1990

They're festive banner screens Sheer simplicity sets off these festive banner screens. Just cut appliques of ripstop nylon and sew to an almost transparent background of fiberglass window screening. Neither the nylon nor the screening needs any edge treatment; both are weatherproof.

The designs can provide an accent for an outdoor party, or serve as view editor, sun stopper, or privacy screen. The banners aren't battered by the wind, because heavy breezes pass right through them.

The technique couldn't be easier--you cut, pin, baste, and sew the designs. Here we show several examples, from the basic geometry of three overlapping squares to shapes and colors reminiscent of works by abstract painter Sonia Delaunay, to a single leaf pattern repeated across four panels.

Screening material comes in varied widths at hardware and home improvement stores. The two screens above were each made from a standard 4- by 7-foot gray roll (about $7); longer rolls and other colors are also available. Ripstop nylon for the appliques comes in 45-inch widths (about $5 a yard); most larger fabric stores carry a range of colors.

As you create your designs, draft complex or multipanel schemes on graph paper first, then make patterns for appliques to scale on butcher paper. In the leaf motif above, the same pattern was used at different angles or flipped over; appliques were cut at breaks between panels.

These panels hang from 1-inch dowels secured to the veranda beam with hooks and eyes; bottom dowels hook to adjacent posts and to each other.

Freestanding panels are supported by twine-lashed bamboo frames that slip over metal stakes pounded into the ground (drill through the bottom knuckles of the bamboo posts). For additional stability in the wind, four twine lines run from frame's bottom stretcher diagonally out to short stakes.