DIY Fabric on Canvas Art Made Easy with Mod Podge

This fabric on canvas art uses fun, patterned fabric for the background. Just add a painted wood cut out to the front for instant wall decor.

Skills Required: None. Even if you’ve never crafted before, you can make this project. You’ll be applying fabric on canvas with decoupage medium, then painting a wood piece and placing it on top.

Hey there! As you may or may not know, I’ve been working on doing some fabric canvas art for my place – inexpensive but cute. I dug through my fabric scraps the other day and found some Denyse Schmidt County Fair fabric.

It turned out there was just enough to cover a 12″ x 16″ canvas, so the wheels started turning. I then looked through my surface bin, and found a wood bird cutout.

Don’t remember when or where I got this particular one, but I’ve seen similar at several craft stores, especially in the seasonal section.

Anyhoo, I completed this canvas project in less than an afternoon. It’s SO easy, even a beginning crafter can do it! Here’s how I made this art with fabric and Mod Podge.

Gather These Supplies

• Canvas, 12″ x 16″
• Mod Podge Gloss (because this is not a heavy wear item and will hang on the wall, you can use this to prepare your fabric too)
• Scrap of fabric to cover canvas
• Wood piece to put on the front
• Acrylic Paint – You’ll obviously want to match your fabric. I used the following:
  • FolkArt Acrylic Paint – Coastal Blue
  • Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint – Wedgewood Green
• Flat paintbrush
• Craft glue
• Staple gun or small nails and hammer

One more thing – if you don’t find a wood piece that you like, consider painting something on the front of the fabric using a freezer paper stencil technique. Or you can paint freehand on top of Mod Podge.

Get the printable how to card below:

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Decoupage Fabric on Canvas

Learn how to attach fabric to canvas with Mod Podge! Add a wooden embellishment to make fun and unique fabric canvas art.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Active Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Dry Time2 hours hrs

Total Time5 hours hrs

Yield: 1 canvas

Cost: $12

Equipment

• Paintbrush(es)
• Staple gun or small nails and hammer

Materials

• Canvas(es) 12″ x 16″
• Mod Podge Gloss
• Scrap of fabric to cover canvas
• Wood embellishment to put on the front
• Acrylic paint
• Craft glue

Instructions

• Using a brush, paint a light coat of Mod Podge onto your fabric. Allow to dry. This will allow you to cut the fabric like paper without frayed edges.
  
• Paint your wood piece in the colors of your choice. Allow to dry.
  
• Seal the wood piece with Mod Podge and let dry.
  
• Time to attach the fabric to the canvas. I used a staple gun, starting on one edge and stretching the fabric across. My method was bottom, top, then sides. I finished at a corner.
  
• Tuck the corner, trim, and staple. I made "flower" like corners – tucking the two parts under on each side and then folding down. Repeat with the remaining corners.
  
• Use your glue to glue your embellishment onto the canvas. Let dry for several hours before hanging.
  

Notes

Before I use fabric I like to wash and dry it (to remove any sizing). I don’t use fabric softener when I dry it.

If you don’t have a staple gun, you can use small finishing nails and a hammer to attach the fabric in the same manner I did above.

Now that you know how to cover a canvas with fabric, you need more DIY wall art ideas, right? Here are some other cool ideas:

Busted Canvas • Button Canvas Art • Comic Wall Art • Decoupage Napkins on Canvas • DIY Quote Art • Doily Wall Art • Image to Canvas • Instagram Mini Canvases • Magazine Collage • Map Canvas Art • Mount Pictures on Canvas • Paint Chip Art • Paint Swatch Art • Photo Booth Canvas • Photo Transfer to Canvas • Photo Wall Collage • Plastic Animal Canvases • Poster on Canvas