Project 6: Canvas Art

You don’t have to know how to sew to work with fabrics. I’m OK at sewing, but my machine is missing the pedal… Oops.

Here’s a different way to use fabrics — no sewing involved!

Like I said I few posts ago, I’ve gotten really into making what I like to call “canvas art.” Basically, I cover a piece of canvas in fabric or lace and add all sorts of embellishments to it. In this post, I’ll show you how to make a basic piece of canvas art with no embellishments.

First off, you need some kick ass fabric. Fabric can be really expensive so I like to raid the remnants section at JoAnn’s. They always have something good. I’ve found fabric for reupholstering chairs, fabric for froofy flower pins, fabric for canvas art… really for anything you need it for. I definitely recommend checking out that section before you pay full price for something else. You never know what you’ll find.

Anyway, I found this beautiful black, white and silver fabric a month or so ago at a local fabric store on the cheap, so I snatched it up not really sure what I’d do with it. I decided to make a 3-part canvas art to hang up in our future home.

The silver is actually metallic, too. Not just a matte, silvery grey. So yeah, it’s pretty sweet.

For this project, I’m using small canvases. Usually, I buy them in bulk at Michael’s. You can get a pack of 7(ish) 12 in x 12 in canvases or a pack of 10(ish) 12 in x 8 in canvases. I’ll be using the rectangular canvases here.

Cut out your fabric so you can wrap it up and over the back edges of the canvas. I give myself a little extra room, just in case.

You need a staple gun and a lot of staples for this next part. I had to refill twice. Make sure your staples aren’t long enough to break through the other side of the canvas!

Line up the edge of the fabric with the inner most side of the canvas and staple away.

 

 

Stretch the fabric taut to on the opposite side and add your staples. This fabric needed a lot of staples because it wasn’t too stretchy. If your fabric gives a little bit, you should be able to get away with fewer staples.

At this point, you should have two sides opposite from one another stapled to the back of the canvas. You can start to do the same process to the remaining two sides. Make sure you pull the fabric taut, and leave the corners unstapled for now.

At this point it is time to tackle the corners. The thinner your fabric, the easier the corners will fold in nicely. Tuck one side of the fabric flat against the edge of the canvas and fold the remaining fabric upward onto the back of the canvas. Pull it taut, then staple.

Do this to all four corners, and your piece of artwork is complete. I had excess fabric, so I trimmed it away right at the inner edge of the canvas. You can also attach picture wire (or ribbon/string if your canvas is super light) to hang it up easier.

 

Like I mentioned earlier, I want to use these as decorations in our house one day, so I made three of them to have a bit more presences.

 

Here are all three! Once I find the perfect spot for them I’ll post photos!