Canvas wall art is a wonderful way to display your favorite embroidery designs!
Stitch individual designs for a single display, or choose complementary designs from a design pack to create an attractive art ensemble for your home.
Read on for free project instructions!
Supplies & Materials:
- 1/2 yard lightweight canvas (for embroidered panel)
- 4 canvas stretcher bars or one pre-stretched canvas (we used 10" stretcher bars and 10" by 10" pre-stretched canvas)
- Medium weight cutaway stabilize
- Temporary spray adhesive
-Â Air-erase pen
- Wood glue and rubber mallet (if using stretcher bars)
- Light duty staple gun and staples
Special Project Notes:
In this project I used designs from the Four Seasons Nouveau Design Pack - Lg . I also think designs from the A View of the Seasons Design Pack  and from the Four Seasons Baskets Design Pack  would frame beautifully as well.
Finished size, one piece: 10" wide by 10" high
Finished size, all four pieces hung: 22 1/2" wide by 22 1/2" high
The designs used in this tutorial include:
First, decide which design or designs you would like to embroider. We are embroidering four designs which are all sized at around 5.85" wide by 5.85" high.Â
We are leaving about a 2" margin between the outer edges of the designs and the outer edges of the frame. 2" plus 2" equals a total of 4" of space.
Take the total margin plus the dimensions of the design. Our final measurements are about 10" by 10". We chose 10" canvas stretcher bars for our frame (you may also use pre-stretched canvas - ours would be 10" wide by 10" high).
To assemble the stretcher bars, add a few drops of wood glue to the tabs at the ends of the bars and slide the notches together at each end. You may use a rubber mallet to gently tap the ends together if necessary.
Allow the glue to dry. Then, cut a piece of canvas a bit larger than your hoop and at least 6" larger in width and height than your frame (we cut our fabric to 18" by 18"). Then, place the frame in the center of the fabric and trace the shape using an air-erase pen or other marking tool.
Mark the center of each side of the shape by measuring and dividing by two. Draw lines connecting the marks - these marks will be used for hooping.
Spray a piece of medium weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric.Â
Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric.
Embroider the design.
When the design has finished, carefully trim away the excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery.
Next, insert a pin at one of the corners of the shape.
Turn the fabric over to the backside and mark the corner on the backside. Repeat this for each corner.
Align the frame with the corner marks on the backside of the fabric (canvas side down if you are using a pre-stretched canvas). Bring the fabric up over one of the sides, hold it firmly in place along the side (but do not pull the fabric) and staple the fabric on the backside of the frame in the center of the side only.
Keeping the corner marks aligned with the frame, bring the opposite side up over the side of the frame, pull the fabric firmly tight (but do not pull too hard as to stretch and distort the fabric) and staple the fabric in place on the backside of the frame in the center of the side.
Repeat this process for the remaining two sides - staple the fabric in place on the backside of the frame in the center of each side. Gently pull the fabric and staple it in place on one side and then the next working your way out from the center staples and alternating from one side to the opposite side as you go. Staple the fabric up to about 1/4" away from the corner seams at each corner.
Next, pinch the fabric at each corner creating a double fold pleat.
Fold the pleat over to one side and lay it flat against the backside of the frame along the corner seam. Pull the fabric tight and staple it in place.
Trim away the excess fabric on the backside of the frame and leave about 1/2" of excess fabric out from the staples. And your art is complete!Â
Now we will hang the art:
We are hanging a total of four pieces creating a square shape. Decide where you want it and hang the first pie
Decide how much space you want in between the pieces (we are leaving 2 1/2" between each piece). Measure the width of the first piece and divide by two (our piece is 10" wide so, 10" divided by two is 5"). Take the distance between the pieces and add the width dimension (ours is 2 1/2" plus 5", so our final measurement is 7 1/2").Â
Take your final measurement and measure and mark out horizontally starting at the upper right corner of the first piece.
Measure the width of the top back of the frame (ours is 1 1/2"). Take that measurement and measure and mark down vertically from the mark you just made. Add a nail or picture hanger at this mark and hang the second piece.
We are hanging the third piece directly below the first piece. To do this, measure and mark the center of the bottom of the first piece by measuring and dividing by two.
Take the top back frame width measurement (ours is 1 1/2") and add it to the amount of space you want between the pieces (ours is 1 1/2" plus 2 1/2" which is a total of 4"). Take this dimension and measure and mark down vertically from the mark you just made at the bottom of the first piece. Add a nail or picture hanger at this mark and hang the third piece.
Repeat the steps you used to hang the third piece to hang fourth piece (the fourth piece is directly under the second piece).
Use these versatile instructions to create lovely wall art from the embroidery designs you love
Whether you create a single picture or a collection, hanging embroidered canvas art is a terrific way to add lasting beauty to your home decor.
