a mural of epic proportions.
Feb. 25th, 2009 10:45 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
aniar.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
craftgrrlWith me being poor and jobless, I needed a cheap project and I need to fill up the space on the wall behind my TV. Since I live in an apartment, I couldn't paint my mural.... After seeing a craftster post of how you could use spray starch and fabric to imitate those Blik surface graphics, I decided to bring it to the next level. I made many mistakes, but finally got the thing up and running.... and it is STILL on the wall (despite my cat, Rio's, efforts to pull it down).
You may want to test it on an unsightly area of your house to make sure no starch residue remains that can't be wiped off with a damp cloth after you deced to remove the mural/wall graphic/whatever you call it. I have really matte walls, and still had no problems with it... but better safe than sorry!
Materials/Cost Analysis:
Spray Starch - $1
Fabric (1.5 yrds brown, .5 yrds red, 1 yrd green) - $10
Wrapping Paper (Or you could use newspaper) - $2
Markers
Scissors
Total Cost = $13
Total Time = 4+ hours
1. Making the Stencil: To start, you need to draw your template/stencil. I did this on junky wrapping paper, but you could do it on newspaper if you wanted. Initially, I tried to keep my stencil pretty much all one piece. As you can see, my design is HUGE (8ft long/6 ft high), so I did the branches separately. Once you have everything traced or drawn the way you like, cut it out. I did the leaves and birds after I had the trunk mastered.... but you'd do the same thing with them.
2. Transferring Stencil to Fabric: Take the stencils you made and draw them onto the back side of your fabric with a marker or the like. Then cut them out using a very sharp shears so the edges won't be likely to fray.
Mistakes Made/Lessons Learned For This Step -
a. Make sure to flip the stencil over otherwise your whole design will be upside down when you go to put it on your wall. I didn't do this until about halfway through making everthing VERY complicated.
b. Use a sharpie or other non-water soluble marker to draw on your fabric with. I used plain old markers and ended up hating myself for it later becuase the spray starch made it soluble and it was all over the place... including my wall!
c. No need to try and keep your design/stencil in large pieces. You can see my tree trunk is segmented becuase the weight was too great for the starch to hold up.... and it was impossible to smooth onto the wall with a giant piece.
3. Sticking The Fabric to the Wall: Put down a plastic garbage sack or the like to prevent starch from getting on your carpet/floor. Spray a generous amount of starch on the back of your fabric. Smooth onto wall.
Mistakes Made/Lessons Learned For This Step -
a. First time I put it up, part fell down. This is becuase I didn't soak the pieces well enough. You need to really soak them, like dripping with starch. Yeah, it will drip down your wall, but you can just go back and wipe it off when you are done.
b. Make sure to get the edges extra well. They will be more likely to curl away from the wall.
Final Thoughts: I'm extremely pleased with the result, I just stare at it sometimes. After the initially falling down, nothing has come down since (granted it is only a day later). If you are doing smaller pieces, you should have no trouble keeping them up. I suspect mine were on the upper limits of what the starch could handle. The trunk is starting to 'bubble' becuase they are such big pieces, but it makes it more visually interesting and more like bark, so I'm leaving it that way... birds and leaves haven't bubbled at all though (they are less than 8x10" in size).
If you try it, GOOD LUCK!
You may want to test it on an unsightly area of your house to make sure no starch residue remains that can't be wiped off with a damp cloth after you deced to remove the mural/wall graphic/whatever you call it. I have really matte walls, and still had no problems with it... but better safe than sorry!
Materials/Cost Analysis:
Spray Starch - $1
Fabric (1.5 yrds brown, .5 yrds red, 1 yrd green) - $10
Wrapping Paper (Or you could use newspaper) - $2
Markers
Scissors
Total Cost = $13
Total Time = 4+ hours
1. Making the Stencil: To start, you need to draw your template/stencil. I did this on junky wrapping paper, but you could do it on newspaper if you wanted. Initially, I tried to keep my stencil pretty much all one piece. As you can see, my design is HUGE (8ft long/6 ft high), so I did the branches separately. Once you have everything traced or drawn the way you like, cut it out. I did the leaves and birds after I had the trunk mastered.... but you'd do the same thing with them.
2. Transferring Stencil to Fabric: Take the stencils you made and draw them onto the back side of your fabric with a marker or the like. Then cut them out using a very sharp shears so the edges won't be likely to fray.
Mistakes Made/Lessons Learned For This Step -
a. Make sure to flip the stencil over otherwise your whole design will be upside down when you go to put it on your wall. I didn't do this until about halfway through making everthing VERY complicated.
b. Use a sharpie or other non-water soluble marker to draw on your fabric with. I used plain old markers and ended up hating myself for it later becuase the spray starch made it soluble and it was all over the place... including my wall!
c. No need to try and keep your design/stencil in large pieces. You can see my tree trunk is segmented becuase the weight was too great for the starch to hold up.... and it was impossible to smooth onto the wall with a giant piece.
3. Sticking The Fabric to the Wall: Put down a plastic garbage sack or the like to prevent starch from getting on your carpet/floor. Spray a generous amount of starch on the back of your fabric. Smooth onto wall.
Mistakes Made/Lessons Learned For This Step -
a. First time I put it up, part fell down. This is becuase I didn't soak the pieces well enough. You need to really soak them, like dripping with starch. Yeah, it will drip down your wall, but you can just go back and wipe it off when you are done.
b. Make sure to get the edges extra well. They will be more likely to curl away from the wall.
Final Thoughts: I'm extremely pleased with the result, I just stare at it sometimes. After the initially falling down, nothing has come down since (granted it is only a day later). If you are doing smaller pieces, you should have no trouble keeping them up. I suspect mine were on the upper limits of what the starch could handle. The trunk is starting to 'bubble' becuase they are such big pieces, but it makes it more visually interesting and more like bark, so I'm leaving it that way... birds and leaves haven't bubbled at all though (they are less than 8x10" in size).
If you try it, GOOD LUCK!
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