Not Quite Waving The Flag

I started working on the flag wall hanging.  I was eager to start on it to see if it was going to work and how it was going to look.  Since I only have a month to work on it, I wanted to make sure I could do it in that time. I actually think I can get this done in a week, barring any unforeseen events.  The instructions suggest using fusible thread.  I couldn't find any locally, so decided I'd use fusible interfacing. Using fusible interfacing will make it stiffer and more bulky, and adds extra layers, but I think that's ok since it is a wall hanging and not a quilt.  I started with the flag pole, sewing the fabric and fusible, right side together, and then cutting a small hole on the interfacing side to turn it.

I then used my loop turner to turn the pole inside out.

I then iron it nicely and placed it on the background fabric (the sky) using a lightbox.

I fused it onto the background , and then using regular thread in the bobbin, monofiliment thread in the top, and a small buttonhole stitch, I sewed it  on to the background

Next step is the flag itself.  I decided that I'd not do individual strips (red, white, red, white - too much work) and so I put the white down first using the same method I used for the flag pole.

interfacing side with hole before turned right side out

flag nicely iron on Teflon pressing sheet

The above photo shows the flag placed on background using light box.  (I need to adjust my edges so they fit the design better.  This is as far as I got.  I wanted to think about how I'd do the red stripes.  If I use the same method, it would be 5 layers (background, interfacing, white, interfacing, red) and double that on the edges that are turned under.  I think that would be too bulky, so I'm going to use lightweight steam a seam on the red stripes, not turn the edges under, and use the same thread and buttonhole stitched to anchor them down.  I find that the steam a seam light isn't bulky and will keep the edges nice. I'll post photos of the next process.
Don't forget to mirror image your design before tracing the pieces.