Puffy Fabric Photo Frame

This gorgeous fabric picture frame project was submitted by Shelley Woods in Nevada. She decorated the frame with family photos and applied batting to the back before stapling the frame to the cardboard backing. What a wonderful gift idea and a marvelous way to remember a special event like a wedding or the birth of a new baby! (The smaller inset picture shows a frame done in portrait orientation. Click on it for a larger view.)

MATERIALS:

Inkjet fabric sheet or lightweight cotton broadcloth fabric (prepped for use in an inkjet printer – see our Valentine Fabric Gift Bag project for more on this)

2 pieces of stiff cardboard (the backing sheets from any of our packs of Fun Paper are perfect for this project!)

Glue, glue gun or staples

Batting

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Open a blank page in your graphics program in either portrait or landscape orientation, depending on how you want your frame oriented.

2) Draw a rectangle with no fill and an outline in any light color and stretch it to the outer margins of the blank page. Copy and paste this rectangle.

3) Resize one of the rectangles to make it smaller than the other and center this on your page. These two rectangles will be the borders of the frame.

4) Copy and paste the smaller rectangle and resize again to make it smaller than the center rectangle. This will be the cutting guide for the fabric once it is printed.

5) Inside the “frame” portion place your background and designs. Shelley used family photos for her frame.

6) Print this on plain paper to make certain that alignment is correct. To make certain you have your frame designed correctly, cut out ONLY the smallest rectangle. Now snip the corners from the inside to the almost the edge of the printed frame. (See illustration below)

7) Now you will fold in along the outlines so that only the printed frame shows. The edges that are folded are the part you will be attaching to the cardboard.

8) Once you are satisfied with the alignment you can print the frame on the fabric sheet. Set your printer to Best quality and select “Other Specialty Papers” as the media.

9) Allow the sheet to dry thoroughly before you peel off any backing (if you used an inkjet fabric sheet or used freezer paper to prep a piece of cotton broadcloth.)

10) While the fabric is drying, cut both pieces of cardboard to match the size of the outer printed margins of your fabric – the same size as the largest rectangle on your fabric sheet. Set one piece of cardboard aside. This will be the back of the frame.

11) Now cut out the middle of ONE piece of cardboard to match the outer margin of your printed frame – the same size as the second largest rectangle.

12) Cut a piece of the batting sheet to match the size cut cardboard and attach to the cardboard with glue or a glue gun. It takes very little glue to attach the batting.

13) Now you can cut the smallest rectangle out of your fabric sheet and make the corner snips.

14) Carefully lay the fabric sheet over the cardboard with the batting applied and, starting with the inner edges that have the snipped corners, apply glue or to the back of the cardboard. Fold the inner, snipped edges of the fabric in toward the back of the cardboard and press in place.

15) Attach the outer edges the same way, working on one side then the opposite side so that the fabric is stretched evenly in all directions over the batting.

16) Take the second piece of cardboard and glue it to the back of the piece you attached the fabric to, but LEAVE A SECTION OF THE TOP OPEN. This will enable you to slip in a photo and be able to change it as you so desire.

17) If you would like an easel back on your frame, use another piece of cardboard and make a triangle with a “flap” (see below). Glue the flap to the back of the frame, slip your photo into the slot at the top and Enjoy!

Puffy Fabric Photo Frame Instructions

For a print friendly version, click on this link.