Fabric Frames Tutorial

These fabric frames are very versatile. You can make them with as many panels as you want and in any size you need. Having a dinner party? Make a larger frame and slip a card printed with the menu on one side and what’s for dessert on the other. A long series of these panels done in holiday fabric gives you a unique way to display greeting cards on a mantle.

Materials to make a 2 panel fabric frame:

• Timtex – one piece 9″ x 25″
• Fabric for the outside: 9″ x 25″
• Fabric for the inside: 9″ x 25″
• Mistyfuse Fusible Web www.mistyfuse.com
• Chalk marker or disappearing ink pen marker.
• Your sewing machine. I sew on a BERNINA 750 QE

I used my favorite foot – the BERNINA 34D foot for this project.

Step 1:

Put a layer of Mistyfuse fusible web on each side of the Timex and then fuse your outside fabric to one side and the fabric for the inside on the other.

Step 2:

Trim the fabric covered timex piece to 8″ x 25″ and then cut the following pieces from it:

Two pieces 8″ x 6″—back panels

Two pieces 8″ x 5 3/4″—front window panels

Step 3:

On the wrong (inside) side of the front window panel pieces (8″ x 5 3/4″ pieces) mark a 1″ border all the way around using chalk or disappearing ink pen and cut the inside area out of the panel.

Step 4:

Finish the edges of all the pieces, including the inner edges of the front panel frames using a zig-zag stitch. I set my BERNINA 750 QE to a zig-zag stitch set to 5.0 wide and .50 long and sewed along the edges letting the needle fall just to the outside of each edge so that the thread gets “wrapped” around the edges.

Step 5:

Now it’s time to attach the back panels together. Put the long edges of the back panels against one another and run a line of wide zig-zag stitching down the middle catching both edges. I set my machine up with a 8.0 wide and .50 long zig-zag stitch for this.

Step 6:

Place the two front panels on top of the back panel aligning the outer and bottom edges. There will be a gap in the center between the two front panels. Use a wide zig-zag stitch and sew the front window panels to the back panel by stitching along the outside, inside and bottom edges. DO NOT sew along the top edge!

Step 7:

Slip your photos in through the top open edge and enjoy!

NOTE: to make a four panel version cut the front panels 8” x 5 1/2” and assembled each panel separately after finishing all the edges with a zig-zag stitch by centering the front panel so that there is a 1/4” border on each side.  Sew around the sides and bottom edge of the panel to attach the fronts to the back and  then abut each panel next to one another and use a wide zig-zag stitch to sew them together accordion style.

It is give-away time!

One lucky winner will soon be the owner of Sue Bleiweiss’s new book, Colorful Fabric Collage, for more bright and colorful projects.

Just tell us for what occasion you would create this fabric frame by leaving a comment in this post.

The winner of the book will be chosen randomly on November 13, 2015! Good Luck!

Congratulations to Sandra Walker from CA, the lucky winner of Sue’s book “Colorful Fabric Collage: Sketch, Fuse, Quilt!”.