Ruffled Linen Art

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a bit of a crush on linen.  There’s just something about the texture and the look of linen, don’t you agree?  Both elegant and earthy.  Sophisticated and homespun.  Of course with three kids (and the fact that I don’t iron very often), I don’t have much linen in my house.  A few months ago, I noticed a few beautiful Anthropologie inspired ruffled lampshades.  They were all inspired by this shade.

Beautiful isn’t it?  But as much as I adore this shade, I didn’t really have a need for a new lampshade.  I did however need more art in my home.  So instead, I took this inspiration a different direction, added my love of linen to the mix, and filled some empty wall space in my living room.

 Ruffled.  Linen.  Art.

For this art, I started with three 12×12 canvases and an assortment of linen look fabrics.

I got a yard and a half of the cream fabric and 1/4 yard of all the others.  Except for the white fabric.  The white fabric is actually excess from my shortened living and dining room curtains.  Using my staple gun, I covered each canvas with the cream fabric, making sure it was pulled taut.

Next, using the tutorials I found online, I cut the fabric into strips approx. 2 inches wide and 14 inches long.  I folded these in half and pressed them with my iron.

As you can see, my original idea included using yellow on one of the canvas’, but once I started making them, I decided I liked it better without the yellow.  I laid out my pattern prior to gluing everything to ensure my design would be balanced.

Using my hot glue gun, I applied several inches of glue along the folded edge and adhered it to the canvas in a wavy pattern.  I continued this process until my canvas was full.  Once it was done, I added a strip or two in places that looked a little empty.  I wanted the finished canvas to be quite full with little or no canvas showing through.

Once all three were finished to my liking, I laid them out on my carpet and tried a few different layouts.  This is the one I decided I liked best.

Next, I needed to make sure I got the placement right on my wall.  Since we just painted (I’ll show off the whole room soon) I didn’t want to add a bunch of unnecessary nail holes.  So I made a few newspaper templates and put them on the wall with painters tape.  Once I got the location right, I needed to figure out where the nail should go.

 But first, I needed to add a hanger to the back of each canvas.

I decided on small saw-tooth hangers.  I measured out where I wanted them to go and then used a needle nose pliers to hold the tiny nail in place while I started hammering.

Then, using an idea I saw over at Young House Love, I measured where the nail should go, marked that on my paper template and hammered in the hanger.

Then, off comes the paper and up goes the art.  A really easy way to ensure perfect placement.

Then, there’s only one thing left to do.

Step back and enjoy.

 Beautiful.

Handmade.

Ruffled.

 Art.

I’m linking this post up here: Hookin Up with House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Chic Cottage – Transformation Thursday, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Nest – Frugal Friday, and Fingerprints on the Fridge and here too:

Tagged as: Art, crafty stuff, DIY