fall fabric garland canvas

This project was super fun to make, but extra special because I was able to use my friend Danielle’s hand-lettered digital file “happy fall y’all”! She has a most fabulous business, Imperfect Dust. She offers beautiful decor, lettered digital files, a digital file subscription called DIGITAL DUST & online lettering courses! I’m honored to feature her work in this project!

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Here are all the SUPPLIES I ending using for this one:

Lots of great crafty projects begin with a trip to Hobby Lobby! haha! I came across the cutest blank canvas banner for only $5(it was 50% off). It already had the wood fininishing strips on top and bottom, plus the hanging string at the top! Pretty good $5 deal there!

Next, I downloaded the “Happy Fall Y’all” digital file by Imperfect Dust & then uploaded it into my Silhouette cutting machine. You could also use a Cricut machine if that’s what you own. And if you don’t have a silhouette, I’m sure someone you know could cut the file for you! I love that Danielle of Imperfect Dust offers her beautiful hand-lettered designs for crafters to use on their projects.

And if you are a maker of all the things, Danielle’s ready to use digital designs are perfect for all kinds of projects! She has a super cool monthly subscription called “Digital Dust” where you receive lots of new designs each month! And if you’re interested in learning a thing or two about lettering yourself, check out all the other fun & informative courses she offers HERE!

Next, I suggest you make the ripped fabric banner, but don’t attach it yet. I start by gathering all of my fabrics (I used 5 different fabrics+a thin black & white gingham check ribbon which I found at Hobby Lobby). Gotta love that Hobby Lobby! For this particular project it doesn’t take much fabric at all, and I had most of this in my fabric stash already.

I personally love the look of ripped fabric, so to make that happen just cut a little slit with your scissors & then grab and rip! It’s actually pretty fun and thereaputic haha.

I then cut strips about 10in long and since I used 6 different fabric/ribbon designs, I ended up having 10-12 of each design. You may want to use more or less depending on how full you want your banner. Maybe just start with 10 strips of each design and see how full it gets from there. The actual width of the strips can also vary, but mine were all about 1/2in.

Also measure a piece of jute string several inches longer then the width of canvas banner. This will give you extra to wrap around to attach to wood strip at top. You’ll attach later after stencil is painted.

You will start tying each strip on the jute string with a simple knot. Put all the different fabrics one after the other until it’s time to start over the pattern. Continue adding strips until its full and as wide as the canvas banner. Lay it out over the banner & trim up as best you can so most pieces are even. Remember, don’t attach just yet.

The next step is to get your stencil ready. When you purchase digital files from Imperfect Dust, she includes multiple file types like DXF, SVG, PDG & JPEG. While you could try to create your own design, it is so nice to have beautiful designs like these all ready to go! And remember if you’re using fonts in your silhouette for commercial use, you’d need to pay for fonts rights anyway. Fonts are my favorite!! Don’t forget to check out her nifty subscription “DIGITAL DUST”. If you love to create, you’ll really enjoy getting all those brand new lettering designs each month, I surely do!!

Just some basic knowledge about using a digital file inside of a silhouette machine. Silhouette uses a DXF file type, so I upload it into my library. I lay out & size the design on my computer according to the space I have once my fabric banner is laying on the banner. This one ended up measuring about 6x10in. You can always adjust the design size according to your particular project!

I then load the stenciling vinyl into my machine and send the job through. The stencilling vinyl I love using is Oramask 813. If you’re interested, you can find all my favorite silhouette supplies here in my Hammons Nest Amazon Store 🙂 Once job is done, I use a pick to weed the design, removing all the parts that will be painted. I then place my sticky transfer paper over the design and lay it on to see where I need to stick it.

Once you decide where you want to place your stencil, go ahead & first remove white backer paper. You will only have the blue sticky vinyl with a layer of clear sticky transfer tape. I use clear contact paper to transfer stencil. Position stencil & press down gently. Then use the burnishing squeegee tool to help the stencil adhere to canvas. Then gently peel up the clear transfer paper leaving the blue stencil stuck to the canvas. Now it’s time to paint!!

For this project I chose Dixie Belle Chalk/Mineral Paint in the color “Caviar”. It’s a rich black & was a perfect choice to pop off the canvas color of the banner. I’ve used Dixie Belle paint for a variety of furniture painting & crafts and what I love most is it’s versatility. It is a lovely fabric paint too!

Just squirt a little paint on a paper plate and use the foam brush or stippler to dab on a light layer. It’s best not to overload your foam brush for this step. Also, use an up and down dabbing motion versus a sweeping motion. This will be sure no paint gets under your stencil and causes any bleed-through. Be sure you don’t go outside of the blue rectangle since you only want to paint the words. I only did one coat of paint on this banner. However, when I do some other projects, like this sweatshirt, I do 2 coats to be sure it’s properly covered. Let all the paint dry well before moving on to next step!

Once all paint has dryed, just pull up the stencil. For inside parts of the letters, you may need to use a pick.

Now it’s time to attach the fabric garland you made!

I simply tied a knot & used my light duty stapler to attach the string on the back of the top wood piece. Then did the same on the other side! You could probably use a glue gun for this step, but I love using a stapler when I can to ensure it doesn’t go anywhere! Double check your fabric garland is hanging the way you want & you are ready to now cut off any excess string hanging down in the back. I just love how this turned out!

I hope you enjoyed the project & let me know if you give it a whirl!! Remember to visit my friend Danielle’s page Imperfect Dust for all kinds of beautiful digital designs. They have lots of uses, but are really perfect for these craft projects! Check out this beautiful farmhouse style Nativity Scene I did with a couple her designs too!

And remember you can visit my Hammons Nest Amazon Store! It has several crafty category lists with all my most used supplies! Happy Crafting!! Be sure to pin an image from this post to save to your fall boards!! Have a great day!

If you enjoy seeing projects be made in real time, here is the link to my Facebook Live video when I made this too!