Fabric Wrapped Canvas with Quote
Wedding season is upon us! I attended two bridal showers this week and love making handmade gifts, so these are my gift of choice this season. Let me tell you how I made these fabric wrapped canvas panels with quotes.
I bought a 3-pack of 11″x14″ canvas artist panels a while back to make my I Love You Because chalkboard. They are great for wrapping with fabric and placing on an easel. (I’ve seen wall-mounted, fabric-wrapped canvas that uses the canvas stretched over a frame, but the flat panels are cheap and easy for this project.)
I simply laid out the ironed fabric and placed the canvas panel on top of it (face down), then trimmed the fabric down to 2-3 inches larger than each side.
I hot glued each edge (save the corners for last) on the back side of the panel and pulled the fabric taut as I placed it down on the hot glue. Working with one edge at a time, I put glue all along the edge of the panel about 1/2″ wide before pressing the fabric down on it.
Once the edges were glued in place, I trimmed the fabric down to an even 1 1/2″ on each side. You can probably do this before gluing, but I liked cutting off any frayed edges that occurred during the pulling and gluing.
I then focused on the corners. I glued down the corners with more hot glue, trying to keep them nice and uniform. I’m not too worried about what the back looks like, but I’m sure more can be done to make it look nice if the unfinished back bothers you. I did put a square of white paper on the back with a note to the couple, which covers the orange manufacturer’s label.
I found two beautiful quotes on the Silhouette online store so I could personalize each piece. One bride-to-be is a 30-something woman who is getting married for the second time, and one bride-to-be is a 20-something college student who used to babysit my kids, not so long ago. They both listed grey in their home colors, so one piece of fabric did the job for both.
I used Silhouette black flocked heat transfer vinyl for one, and a pretty turquoise flocked heat transfer vinyl for the other. The black has a little more pop against the grey background, but the turquoise has a pretty sheen to it depending on the viewing angle. Both have a luxurious feel! I like them both.
Working with heat transfer vinyl is very easy. You simply mirror the image you want to cut and then use the recommended settings in Silhouette Studio to cut it. I was able to fit my designs into a 9″ wide area for this 11″x14″ panel, so the 9″ wide vinyl roll was great. You can cut directly on the vinyl without a mat, but I needed almost the whole 9″ area so chose to use my 12″x12″ cutting mat in order to use every inch possible of the material. (You lose some space on each edge when the rollers are moved in to grip it without a mat.)
My Cameo cut the flocked HTV (heat transfer vinyl) beautifully, but my choice of 100% polyester for the grey fabric led to a little more work in getting the HTV to stick to it. Anything less than the cotton setting wasn’t hot enough to activate the vinyl, but I was worried it would burn the fabric. In the end I just had to press harder and hold my iron down longer to get the HTV to stick to the polyester, as opposed to plain cotton fabric. (I did use a cotton setting.) Once the HTV completely released from the clear backing, I ironed directly onto the HTV quote and the fabric to set it really well. (I wouldn’t use 100% polyester with HTV if it were going to be washed, but for this application I think it’s fine.)
Then it was time to decorate the plain gift bags. For this plain kraft bag I used this fun man-woman symbol and used Ashley Horton’s trick to create my own unique word art with black adhesive cardstock. I added a little tag with a slice in the loop so I could just hang it on the bag handle.
For the second bag, I used white adhesive corrugated paper with the same man-woman symbol and an ampersand. (It was the leftover piece from my Valentine’s Day card. I knew I would find a good use for it when I saved it!)
I included a simple easel with each piece, and both brides loved their gifts. These both got passed around the room so everyone could feel the velvety flocked lettering. And the “make a brand new ending” quote nearly made the bride cry. Yup, I’d say it was a success. 🙂
Silhouette Shapes:
Make a brand new ending – vinyl phrase by Kolette Hall
Best thing hold onto… layered phrase by Kolette Hall
Travel tag charms by Snapdragon Snippets
Man woman holding hand symbol by Alaa’ K
Ampersand, &, and collection by Kolette Hall
Kelly, I LOVE this!!!! Thank you so much for such a wonderful idea. I loved both of the quotes, but the first one spoke volumes to me! I will put this idea to good use. hugs, Patty
The first one speaks volumes to me, too, as I enter a very scary phase of a life I never envisioned (pardon my pun). New unexpected endings can be brutal, but perhaps they can be adequately controlled. Thanks, Kelly.
D first one is awesome.
How did you apply enough pressure to set the vinyl to the front of the canvas….did you put something under the back of the frame?
Sara, the artist canvas under the fabric is quite heavy with its stiff cardboard base. I could push down on my iron as hard as necessary to get the heat transfer material to stick to the grey fabric. The panel was just resting on my ironing board, but it's thick enough to place on any hard surface while ironing.
This is great, Kelly! I need to make a poster for the YW theme this year and this idea is perfect!
Good idea, Amanda. I miss being in YW where they appreciate my crafty skills. 😉
Would you, by chance, be willing to share the cursive font you used on the second panel? I’ve searched high and low in an attempt to purchase it, but I came up empty. Thanks.
Hi Clark. Unfortunately, that is not a font. It is a piece of word art designed by the talented Kolette Hall. She adds all her own flourishes and “extras” that make it so appealing. I have a link to the word art in my post above.