Sidmouth Festival of Flags

Civic pride and a sense of place

32 Flags have been submitted following our series of 12 free drop in design and make workshops.  

Each group was supported in the design process with textile artist seamstress Sheena Heueston on hand supporting volunteers to realise the fabulous designs that capture so much of Sidmouth community life.  

Sidmouth School of Art Artistic Director Coco Hodgkinson was kept busy making flags not only on behalf of Sidmouth School of Art - designed by David Shrigley, and for Sidmouth Sea Fest - designed by children at Sea fest 24 and for Sidmouth Folk Festival - designed by Sam Eyre and for Sidmouth International Jazz and Blues Festival and more besides.

A huge thank you goes to the Sidmouth Patchers and Quilters, led by Angela Crowther, who stepped in with their exquisite sewing skills to help with sewing, hemming and backing some of the flags.

Getting Noticed

We have had so many positive comments from those who took part, those who live here and enjoyed the display and guessing which flag belonged to which group and from visitors to the town and those who see our work digitally through our photos and films.

The festival was even picked up by The Flag Institute - a UK-registered charity devoted to the study and promotion of flags and flag flying otherwise known as vexillology.  They ran a feature about our festival in their members newsletter shared with over 500 members including a worldwide audience.

A Celebration of the Community of Sidmouth

There are many examples of flag festival projects in different towns and cities, each with its own identity to create a sense of belonging to something joyful, celebratory and creative for shared benefits.

What

We are aiming to make 40-50 flags for display, to be displayed annually with new flags added each year. There is a design brief and a supported process to make sure together we create a wonderful community exhibition that can be re-used for future years.

Why

A community public art exhibition with a shared aim to connect and show the array of groups in Sidmouth, to generate civic pride and belonging and to make the town even more attractive for those who live and visit.

Who

The project is led by Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub and Sidmouth School of Art – on hand to make the process straightforward and easy to access to enable everyone to get involved.

A team of textiles artists, designers and sewers are on hand to support your group to create a design that is a positive representation and to support the making process.

When

The flags or community banners were displayed through the town through the summer season – July 15^th to first week of September 2024.

Where

Sidmouth Town Centre – flags or community banners were hung on the catenary wires overhead as the Christmas lights are, we are grateful to Sidmouth Town Council for their support and permission for this to happen.

Sidmouth community groups, clubs, festivals and events are invited to take part next year to build on the success of this year.

Meet the lead artist...

Design Brief Criteria:

• Designs highlight what your group/organisation does (identity and belonging)
• Designs are unique and new (i.e. not existing flag designs or logos)
• Designs are positive and celebratory (civic pride and sense of place)

Hints and Tips

• Simple designs work best and will have the most impact and will be easy to view
• Use images, shapes, colours and symbols rather than text
• Consider the colours in your design that communicate what your group represents
• Choose a simple colour palette – 2, 3 or 4 colours that work well together
• Use light and dark colours to create contrast against each other

Resources

• Rip stop nylon is the weather resistant material we will provide in a variety of colours
• Your flag can be one colour with design shapes/symbols cut out, pinned and machine or hand stitched on (applique) or created from a variety of colours stitched together
• Each flag will be 800mm wide x 1200mm long (portrait rectangles)
• Each flag will need a double stitched border - this will provide strength and a place for the eyelets to be attached by the project team
• The project team will add fixings to your flag for consistency and to hang well

Editorial

• Designs which are offensive or political will not be acceptable as would not be in line with the project aims or design brief
• The curation and placement of the banners when exhibited will be the role of the project lead to optimise colour balance and range of designs

Below is an all you need to know step by step process (dates will be amended for 2025 for new groups taking part)

How

Step 1 Confirm your participation, providing the name of your group and a named key contact, phone number and email address. 

Step 2 Discuss design ideas with your group, start sketching your design, choose a colour palette, try to include as many views as possible and then trust the process to a small group.

Step 3 Attend one of our 6 free design support workshops – the first will be at Sea Fest and thereafter at Sidmouth Craft Hub at 38 Mill Street, Sidmouth, EX10 8DF - see below for dates and times

Step 4 Submit your design no later than 14^th June via email.

Step 5 Make and Create your flag

We will liaise by email to deliver your fabric to you

• Start making your flag if you are happy to realise your design and have access to your own sewing machine
• Or attend one of our 6 free Make Workshops - see below for times and dates
• Or ask us to realise your design for your group

Step 6 Flags need to be finished and given to the project lead by Friday 5^th July

Step 7 Project lead and team will attach fixings to all flags and curate the order to maximise the collection of flags.

Step 8 All flags will be photographed for a digital exhibition on the Sidmouth School of Art website www.sidmouthart.org

Step 9 Flags will be hung with the aid of a cherry picker and 11^th and 12^th July

Step 10 Sidmouth Festival of Flags launches Monday 15^th July supported by a digital campaign to promote the event.

FAQs

Additional guidance following frequently asked questions during the initial design workshops is below and will help your group to create the best outcome.  Please read through before you start to make your flag and feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

Final Flag Measurements

Please note the size of the final flag will be 800mm wide and 1200mm heigh. This will include a 25mm hem i.e. 25mm folded over twice to create a 25mm hem all around the portrait fabric drop.  This means the total unhemmed size is 900mm x 1300mm.  This will strengthen the area where we will put the fixing eyelet. If you are using a whole piece of rip stop to back your flag it will be 800m x 1200mm total - the edges can be inserted into the hem area and sewn in as you are hemming the flag i.e. the backing does not need its own hem.

Please add the 25mm hem to the edges of your banner OR if you prefer we will hem the banner for you once submitted.

Working with Ripstop Nylon

The rip stop nylon fabric requires a careful approach to avoid puckering follow these instructions to achieve the best result:

• only use nylon/polyester thread (available at Sidmouth Craft Hub or online e.g. Moon Thread)
• use a 70/10 needle (anything larger will cause holes) or simply a small and very sharp needle
• use sharp scissors or a rotary cutter to cur your shapes
• use the gridlines on the fabric to help sew straight lines where needed
• keep the tension loose on the sewing machine
• do not pin the fabric together this will make holes in it - use decorators or masking tape (available in any hardware store/art craft shop) to hold shapes or the hem area in place

You can use Hi-Tack Fabric glue sparingly on the fabric to keep shapes in place before you sew them on if masking tape is not suitable for example to hold smaller details in place – they do all need to be sewn to ensure the flags last and can be reused.

There are two options for the back of your flag:

• cut the shapes of your design out and sew the design together to show the design on both sides or
• choose a colour that coordinates/contrasts with the colour palette of your design and sew it on as a backing – you will need to let us know if this is the option you choose – and let us know the colour so we can provide a 800mm x 1200mm piece of fabric for this.

When we curate the exhibition – we will be looking at range of colours and mix of two-sided designs and those with block colour backing to ensure the exhibition works well.

Additional Design Guidance

Please do not use any words on your banner – groups/organisation names are not necessary – use visual images to represent what your group stands for or its purpose or what is important about it.

TOP TIP: brainstorm with your members to gather a list of words about what the group is for or does, what its main reason for existence is, what it delivers for people – then funnel down to prioritise what is the most important – try to identify 3 to 5 things or words that convey what your group is about. Choose images that communicate what you have prioritised.  

When designing please consider...

• less is more in flag design
• you do not need to cover everything – this will help to make sure your flag is an artwork
• that collectively this will ensure we produce as a community, a coherent exhibition
• avoiding group titles will be less sewing work
• your design will be easily viewable above the roadway from a distance
• this will make sure each design has the most impact visually

We know that it is important for each group to ultimately be identifiable – we have that covered! Every group will have its name and an email and web address added to the Sidmouth School of Art website – you will be able to add this link to the project page to your website.

We will also produce a postcard with all of the designs on one side and a grid reference on the back to show which flag is by which group.

Resisting using text is important – as it helps to enable a visual first exhibition, avoid the flags looking like conference banners, sparks curiosity and interest and inspires creativity - yours and the viewers!

Draft Designs to Making Your Flag

Once you have attended a design workshop or been in contact by email to discuss your ideas – you will give us a list of the colours you require and we will liaise by email to deliver your fabric to you or for pick up at one of the make workshops.

• If you are happy to realise your design and have access to your own sewing machine.
• Or attend one of our 6 free Make Workshops – dates and times https://sidmouthart.org/projects/smart-projects/sidmouth-festival-of-flags
• Or ask us to realise your design for your group

A reminder to please email your full colour draft design no later than 14^th June to info@sidmouthcoastalcommunityhub.org

This will help us to review and provide any further feedback before you start to make your flag. We also need them to help us to design the exhibition.

Flags need to be finished and given to the project lead by Friday 5^th July.