Cheap Decorating with Fabric in Old Photo Frames

Home Decorating:

This project’s a great one for re-using stuff that you might have stored in a cupboard somewhere, particularly old wooden photo frames!

I know that the ‘framed fabric’ concept is not a new one, but I thought I’d use it as one of my projects for the blog because it fits in nicely with the ‘using what you've got’ decorating style.

This is another bedroom in our ‘guest cottage’, which is a spare house on the property that I did up myself for friends and families to stay. As I've mentioned before in previous posts about this house, I tried to spend the absolute bare minimum when decorating it.

I was very lucky to already have a good supply of second-hand furniture (all of the furniture you can see in these photos is second-hand), and I was also able to find some good bargains for the soft furnishings. 

For example, (in one of the other bedrooms in this house), the material that I made the curtains and cushions out of cost me $1 per metre from a Spotlight bargain table. In this bedroom featured here I purchased these doona covers on special from Ezibuy, but used everything else that I already had.

I had lots fabric leftover from another ‘red’ project that I’d done, so I used it again in this room for the cushions. Then I wanted to coordinate some artwork with the bed covers.

So I simply cut out some pieces of material, placed them inside the photo frames, and hung them up again. So quick and easy!

Happy decorating!

Emma

Tutorial: Simple No-Zip Cushion Covers

Sewing:


As everyone knows, changing your cushion covers can help to cheaply transform a room, and you can keep the costs down even more if you can make your own.

I've been asked many times how I make my own cushion covers... so here goes a tutorial!


Step 1 (Above): Lay your cushion over your material and cut around it. Allow a bit for the seam. It's a bit rough I know, but it always seems to work! Once you've got your first square or rectangle, lay it over more material and cut it out the same, except for one side - leave it a bit longer. Put the right sides together and your material should look like the picture above.


Step 2 (Above): Cut the longer bit of material in two - it doesn't really matter where along it you make your cut. Just sort of try and make it so one piece is 2/3rds and the other is 1/3rd. Don't worry too much though it will still work out. Lay out the two bits over the first square or rectangle. Make sure they overlap and end up being the same shape as the first square. Keep the right sides together.


Step 3 (Above): This photo is the wrong orientation sorry! Anyway, what you need to do is to fold back the edges of both bits of material (the ones you just cut up). The photo below shows this step a bit better.


Step 4 (Below): Separately sew the two edges that you just folded back.


Step 5 (Below): Pin your cushion right around and then sew the square or rectangle.


(Below) This is how the overlap bits should look (wrong orientation again sorry!)

Step 6 (Below): Trim the corners and the sides if necessary. I usually have to because my measuring and sewing are pretty rough!


(Below) This is how your cushion cover should look now.


(Below) ... and this is how your cushion cover should look once you've turned it the right side out. This photo is of the back of the cushion.

Good luck with your sewing!

Emma

Appliqué Spring Tree Cushion

Sewing/Home Decorating: 

Another unfinished project done (mental ‘TICK’) yay! I’m cruising through my box now.

I started this cushion while visiting Cath - it’s taken from here - which is an amazing and inspiring book FULL of great ideas!

Similar to the needle case I made for Cath, I was lucky enough to get to be able to use ALL her scraps for this cushion!!!!

Cushion in progress

My only regret is I didn’t insert a zip on the back of the cushion (I just couldn’t remember how to do it) but my lovely mum has since retaught me so I might just have to redo the back of this cushion - if I’m honest with myself though - probably not).

It's just as effective doing the simple back with an overlap of the two pieces.

Back of cushion

Caity x