Homemade Artwork

A Little Background

I saw an idea online to use a shower curtain to create some sweet wall art. Using these steps you could re-purpose or use a new shower or window curtain with a print that you like. Or you can hit up the fabric store and find something different. In the end I couldn't find a shower curtain that I liked at a reasonable price so I decided to check out the fabric store and found what I used for half off, so the entire project for two pieces of artwork cost around $30-40.

Cheat: Before we get started I wanted to point out that one other option, instead of building a frame, would be to just buy or use an old wood frame (either wall or counter top) and wrap that with the fabric. To buy a frame the size I built would have cost a lot more then the $5 worth of wood that I used though.

Supplies Needed

• Fabric (either from the fabric store, a shower curtain or window curtain). I bought 2 yards of each at $10 a yard and had plenty of left over
• 1"x2"x96" Boards (I used 3, but you might need more or less depending on your frame size)
• Angle Brackets (one for each corner)
• Drill or Screwdriver
• Saw
• Staple Gun (and staples)
• Scissors
• Iron
• Picture Wire (or brackets to hang Artwork)

Cut

After you decide what size your artwork is going to be measure and mark your wood to be cut. I used cheap 1"x2"s, which cost about $2 per 8 foot piece. In the end I used a total of 3 boards.

I cut the shorter boards for the width of the frames at 23.75" (x4) and the longer boards for the height at 43.75". I didn't round up to 24" or 48" to be sure that I didn't run short on the board length with the saw kerf (the saw dust you create from the thickness of the saw blade).

These boards are small enough to cut with a hand saw if you don't own any power saws.

Sand

Once your wood is cut, sand the edges to round them off. You only need to sand one of the edges on each board, whichever edge will be on the outside and front of the frame (where the fabric will be wrapping over the wood).

• Lay out your cut boards in the shape of your frame on a flat surface (I just used my garage floor).
• Use a speed square, or corner clamp or any right angled object to line up one corner at a time.
• Once aligned, screw in angle brackets on that corner, and then repeat for the remaining corners.

• Lay your fabric down on a clean surface, with the artwork facing down, and then place your frame on top with the brackets facing up and the rounded edges facing down.
• Cut the fabric around the frame, leaving about 2"-3" extra on all sides (enough to wrap around the back of the frame).
• If there are any wrinkles on the fabric then you'll want to iron them out.

• Start on one side (I started on one of the shorter sides) in the middle, wrap the fabric around the back of the frame, and staple in place.
• Keep the fabric taught and finish stapling along that side.
• Move to the opposite end, pull the fabric taught (without stretching it), wrap around the frame and staple that side. Work from the middle outward.
• Repeat these steps for the remaining sides.

The second to last step is to add some picture wire to the back or a way to hang your artwork. The picture wire kit I bought had small I-hooks to attach the wire, but I decided to take the easy way and just staple the wire to the back instead. Use enough wire so the middle of it ends up an inch or so from the top and then attach to other side.

• Admire your amazing artwork creation.
• Use a nail or picture hook to hang your artwork on the wall (one great thing about these is how light they are so you don't have to worry about finding a stud in the wall)
• And then admire the final result!