Decorating Guides
Turn Your Leftover Fabric Into Framed Art
You can add color, pattern and texture with leftover fabric scraps and high-end remnants
This is the time of year we open our craft closets to face the yards of fabric we purchased with every intention of tackling a summer project that never was to be. Whether you’re cleaning out your work space and can’t bear to part with remnants of high-dollar fabrics or you’re simply wondering what to do with your collection of scraps in clashing patterns and colors, consider these 10 ways to frame and style leftover fabric.
You have to really love a pattern to use every last inch of it for a wall of draperies and coordinating art, but if you’ve found something you adore, you may as well go full-throttle. To be admired in this space is the way both patterns are duplicated twice in the room. This ensures coherence and balance so that no single pattern out-competes the other.
Break up your room’s faithful symmetry with a trio of framed fabrics to add interest and a dash of eclecticism. What makes this assortment of prints compelling is that it incorporates two colors that are found in the rug and nowhere else in the room. Adding the red and sky blue was necessary for the rug’s coherence, and sneaking those colors in with more geometric patterns means the looser floral and aviary prints don’t get muddled.
Make a Collage
One more way to fashion a headboard out of fabric involves tacking smaller squares of coordinating fabric to a board for a collaged look reminiscent of a handmade quilt. Quilters will naturally gravitate toward this look, but designers, fabric showroom employees and enthusiasts who have ordered multiple samples for a recent decorating project will also enjoy the satisfaction of squeezing every last penny from their favorite designer fabrics.
One more way to fashion a headboard out of fabric involves tacking smaller squares of coordinating fabric to a board for a collaged look reminiscent of a handmade quilt. Quilters will naturally gravitate toward this look, but designers, fabric showroom employees and enthusiasts who have ordered multiple samples for a recent decorating project will also enjoy the satisfaction of squeezing every last penny from their favorite designer fabrics.
Go Deep and Wide
Since most home decor fabrics measure in at 54 inches wide, they can cover a lot of surface area. A full bed is also 54 inches wide, so that extra bolt of fabric you have just might be ideal for transforming into a headboard. Frame it like art, as was done here, or layer it over batting and staple it tightly into place for a tactile wall covering.
Since most home decor fabrics measure in at 54 inches wide, they can cover a lot of surface area. A full bed is also 54 inches wide, so that extra bolt of fabric you have just might be ideal for transforming into a headboard. Frame it like art, as was done here, or layer it over batting and staple it tightly into place for a tactile wall covering.
Even without committing to a full accent wall, fabric can be mounted within picture moldings for a chic paneled look that’s about as effortless to construct as it is attractive, creating a singular visual statement in an otherwise white box. Save money on fabric by splitting a width in half to create your panels, or use whatever you have on hand, bordering your remnant pieces with simple wall trim that you miter and join yourself.
One advantage to repurposing wayward remnants is less obvious than the rest: Fabric panels can enhance the acoustics in theater rooms. You can purchase actual soundproofing panels from a home improvement store, or simply wrap pieces of foam in your chosen fabric to absorb sound and enhance your viewing experience.
Fill a Niche
If you have a closet full of remnants, or even just a couple, it probably means you have a deep appreciation for the tactile pleasures of textiles and consider color, pattern and texture to be close friends. Maybe you’ve accumulated a bevy of patterns you love but at a certain point ran out of furniture, windows and pillows to dress. In that case, framing spare yardage can be the way to sneak in one more coordinate and solve the problem of how to fill those blank walls.
If you have a closet full of remnants, or even just a couple, it probably means you have a deep appreciation for the tactile pleasures of textiles and consider color, pattern and texture to be close friends. Maybe you’ve accumulated a bevy of patterns you love but at a certain point ran out of furniture, windows and pillows to dress. In that case, framing spare yardage can be the way to sneak in one more coordinate and solve the problem of how to fill those blank walls.
Show Off Special Prints
If your scrap of fabric happens to be an heirloom or historical artifact, or carries some deep personal meaning, keep the rest of your wall decor minimal and have the fabric professionally framed and hung in a prominent place, the way you’d see it done in a museum.
If your scrap of fabric happens to be an heirloom or historical artifact, or carries some deep personal meaning, keep the rest of your wall decor minimal and have the fabric professionally framed and hung in a prominent place, the way you’d see it done in a museum.
Everything we put in our homes should tell a little story about who we are and what we value. While we may not know the specific origins of the textiles seen here, the fact that they’re framed and mounted as a thematic gallery over a display of ancestral sculptures suggests they are special, cherished artifacts to be admired as cultural touchstones.
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Don’t scroll too fast or you’ll miss it: Embedded into this sextet of Indian-inspired woodcuts are scraps of fabric repurposed from pillow leftovers. It’s an interesting way to reinforce the pillow design and minimize waste at the same time.
Tip: You may have to specifically request that your upholsterer or craft store save your fabric remnants. You paid for the full yardage, after all, but many fabricators think in terms of finished product and don’t automatically assume that you’re a brilliant crafter who can turn a tiny scrap into a treasure.