Welcome to our latest blog! This time written by team member Hannah Golding and detailing, her and her families adventure into model ballooning.

Whilst Liam dreams big and hopes to one day own and pilot his own full-size hot air balloon. Helen made a passing comment last year that she’d quite like a cute little model balloon! Complete with a teddy as the pilot of course!

It didn’t take much for Liam and me (Hannah) to pick up on that comment! The seed was planted for what became a big family project, turning Helen’s dream into reality.

Although our previous experience had been limited to smaller textile projects, we decided it would be fun to give it a go. We started thinking about our design: colourful and vibrant, but not too ambitious. We then made some enquiries about the costings.

The kit may be small, but the cost to make it certainly isn’t! Thankfully, for the previous 11 years we had been saving £2 coins in a ceramic ‘pot of dreams’ money jar, and it became full just in time to help fund the project.

With special thoughts of Helen’s friend Nicki, who had originally gifted the ‘pot of dreams’ jar with the first £2 coin inside, Helen smashed it open. The savings now had a specific purpose, and the project was ready to get up and away.

Most model balloons are either 50 or 80 cubic metres in size. However we wanted something smaller that we could inflate in our garden as well as in larger open spaces. Liam was tasked with scaling down the measurements to achieve an overall size of 20 cubic metres.

At the beginning of March, we were able to order the fabric and start making our template.

We chose to make a vertically striped balloon in rainbow colours, alternating with black, and decided to add coloured stars to the top as well. With this addition, and Coldplay being a favourite of both ours and Nicki’s, it seemed only appropriate to name the balloon ‘Sky Full of Stars’.

The template was marked out on thick vinyl. We triple-checked our measurements to make sure we hadn’t made any mistakes. Then it was time to mark out and cut all the pieces. 24 rip stop nylon gores (the long vertical panels), a parachute (the circular top piece, although non-functional on a smaller-scale model like ours), decorative stars, and 24 fire-resistant Nomex panels for the bottom of the balloon, known as the mouth. We would also need a Nomex scoop, although this was measured and cut out later.

Each Nomex piece was sewn onto the bottom of a long gore. Then the pre-cut pieces were carefully clipped and sewn together. First in pairs, then groups of four, eight and twelve. Finally the two halves could be joined together to create a complete circle.

The stars were sewn onto the parachute, which was then carefully pinned and sewn into the top of the balloon.

The balloon was really starting to take shape now, and excitement was building. We added tabs around the edge of the mouth ready for the flying wires, along with another tab in the centre of the parachute for the crown line.

Then it was time for a quick cold inflation — in the lounge!

It looked amazing as it started to inflate, especially with the sunlight shining through the colourful fabric. We all carefully climbed inside, whilst avoiding the light fitting, and felt incredibly proud that our creation actually resembled the design we had started with.

‘Sky Full of Stars’ was now close to completion. With the help of Dave Boyle, who also made the mini remote-controlled basket and fan, Liam was able to add the flying wires and give the balloon its first hot inflation test flight.

The final job was to make and attach the Nomex scoop before we could finally declare our project complete.

‘Sky Full of Stars’ had its maiden flight on Sunday 31st May 2026, piloted by Mumble the Penguin.

Since then, it has already made numerous appearances, entertaining the public at university, Scouting and community events.

And, if you didn’t already know, no model balloon is complete without a toy for a pilot.

Contrary to popular belief…

PENGUINS CAN FLY! 🐧🎈