Mornings on Channel Nine

I’ve started doing a regular craft segment for Mornings on Ch9, and today was the first one. I had such fun – Sonia & David are hilarious. We made three fairly simple fabric wall hangings in the five or so minutes I was on air with these inexpensive IKEA fabrics and frames from a discount store. David’s was a bit dodgy (too eager with the staple gun) but Sonia gets top marks. My tip? Buy the fabric from Publisher Textiles for cool & original wall art, or try designs by Florence Broadhurst at Signature Prints.

Stay tuned for news of the next one – it’s likely to be Thursday or Friday next week around 9:45am. We may be getting into some sticky business with decoupage. More soon.

Fabric Wall Hanging project

This has to be one of the thriftiest, most striking ways to decorate the walls of your home. Choose any fabric you like and turn it into a framed canvas. It’s easy to DIY and inexpensive compared with buying original art or prints.

Materials needed

• Wooden frame
• Hammer
• Printed fabric (heavy linen or upholstery fabric works best) to fit frame; enough to cover the surface, sides and a good few inches extra to tuck neatly out of sight against the wall. A metre provides a good-sized canvas to gaze upon and fits well above most beds or sofas
• Iron
• Staple gun and staples
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Iron your fabric flat, print down.
2. Place your frame over the fabric then fold up the edges of one side and staple along the edge at 2 or 3-inch intervals.
3. Continue stapling while keeping the fabric taught. You might want to focus on the corners first before stapling along each edge.
4. When you get to a corner, fold the fabric carefully around the edge like you would if you were wrapping a gift, then staple in place.
5. Keep going until you’ve finished all four sides. Snip off any excess fabric with scissors.

To hang

Measure down approx. 10-15cm from the top of the frame on either side. Make a mark of the measurements with the pencil – this is where your screw hooks will go. Take hooks and tap into place with the hammer, then screw into wood until secure. Tie wire around one side, then stretch to the other side and tie as well by wrapping wire over on itself at least 6-10 times and then bending backwards to secure. Clip off any excess wire with tin snips/pliers.

Happy crafting,

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