Saturday 5 October 2013

How to make a fabric memo board


This is the easiest (and thriftiest) idea for a gift or for your own home. Handy for thank you cards and invites (wedding season!) and a funky way to organise notes and photos. This one took less than an hour to make and was really simple. A cool project to do with kids for their photos and mementoes too!
 
You will need:
  • 1 stretched canvas the size you require your board to be-  the one in the picture is 45cm x 45cm
  • a piece of fabric that is 10cm wider and 10cm long than your canvas- so mine was 55cm x 55cm (this also depends on how deep your canvas is- basically it needs to be big enough to cover and wrap around the back so you don't see the canvas at all)
  • 4 lengths of fabric tape (available form most good craft shops or online- I bought this from Aroha Vintage in Christchurch) two that are the width + 10cm and two the length + 10cm
  • 4 lengths of string or ribbon, two that are the width + 10cm and two the length + 10cm
  • 4 buttons
  • needle and thread
  • hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • craft board or good cutting surface
  • fabric scissors or fabric craft knife
To make your memo board:
  • Cut your fabric to size and iron flat. Lay the fabric face-down on a flat surface and sit your canvas face-down on top of it. 
  • Start on the edge closest to you and hot glue along the inside edge of the canvas' wooden frame and attach the fabric to it.
  • Now turn the canvas around so that the glued side is furtherest away from you. Glue the edge now closest to you, pulling the fabric tight as you go. At this point check that the fabric is tight and flat over the canvas. If it is then continue- if not quickly pull it off before the glue sets like concrete and start again!
  • Now turn the canvas so that one of the remaining unglued sides is closest to you. Fold the corner of the fabric in a 'tucked' corner so that the fabric is all neat and folded away at the corners. Now glue that side down.
  • Rotate the canvas and repeat with the last side- remember to pull the fabric firm so that there are no creases in the fabric on the face of it.
  • Now use your fabric tape to divide the board into nine. Stick the tape right around and onto the back
  • Now take your string or ribbon and follow the line of the fabric tape. For this one I used twine that is thinner than the fabric tape and twisted two lengths together but you could use whatever ribbon or string you like, although if it isn't thinner than the tape it will make the tape pointless! Secure one end of it to the back of the canvas and then stretch it across the canvas and secure it at the other side. Repeat this for all four lengths.
  • The final step is to sew a button on each point where the ribbons intersect. This will keep all your memos from slipping to the bottom of the board. 
Tips/ideas:
  • You can use a canvas of any size
  • This would also be cool to do using an old picture frame
  • You can put as many strings across the board as you like, for this size I thought four was enough but it also depends on what you want it to hold
  • you could use brads instead of buttons if you like, I just love the vintage look of buttons but there are heaps of brads available at a good scrap booking shop
  • If you are stuck for ideas Pinterest has hundreds of these up there for inspiration!