D.I.Y Hessian Wall hangings
Hey! So today, I'm going to teach you how to make a wall hanging out of hessian to add a little hippie to any room. Make one or make a whole bunch to form a gallery wall of them!
What you will need:
1. Hessian (whatever size piece you choose. I got mine from amazon)
2. Acrylic or Fabric paint in your brand and colour of choice
3. Thick paintbrush or sponge
4. Strong thread and needle
5. String (I used hemp, which is in picture 2)
6. A pair of scissors
7. A craft knife
8. A stick!
Method:
1. Once you have decided what size wall hanging you want, cut a more manageable piece out, so it's easier to work with.
2. Make sure your stick is longer than the width you want your hanging to be as this is what your hessian will be hanging from. Because I wanted mine to be triangular, I found the centre of the stick's length, and worked this down to the bottom of the hessian, where I cut from this mark to the top corners of the hessian to make a symmetrical triangle.
You should be left with something like this (If you're making a triangle)
3. Now, at this point you need to decide on the design you want on your wall hanging. I chose a tribal Ikat design that I 'borrowed' from this blog to give a bohemian look to mine, or you could design your own stencil or simply free hand it (if you dare). If you do use an already available image from the internet, print it off in black and white to save ink and be very careful where you cut it.
You need to be really careful where you cut with a pattern like this, especially when the different sections are not joined up, so here's where I cut. Follow the red lines and you should be alright, and if you do make a mistake and cut the wrong part, then you can just arrange the pieces of the stencil like a jigsaw puzzle on top of the hessian and use a moveable adhesive to keep them in place while you paint on top.
4. Once you have finished cutting, you should have a very flimsy stencil, which you then need to lay over the top of the fabric and prepare your paint. I mixed light pink and green to make a kind of minty colour. I used a sponge to apply my paint over the stencil (if you apply it at an angle, then the paint will get under the stencil and ruin your design.
If your paint isn't even, it doesn't matter because it adds to the bohemian character of the piece.
5. The next step is to attach your floating piece of material to something so that you can hang it on your wall, which is where the stick makes it's appearance. If your stick is rough and might give you splinters then you need to remove the knobbly bits with a knife and sand it to a smoother finish.
Thread your needle (double thread it if you can to make it stronger) and tie a few knots at the end to keep it secure.
Thread the needle through the top of the hessian and around the stick over and over again until you reach the end of the stick. Do this as many times as you need until you feel that the stick is securely attached t your material and will last over time.
Once your stick is attached, tie a piece of string (or hemp) to each end of the stick that is overhanging the hessian to create a handle that you can hang on a picture hook.
Once this is done then you can hang your masterpiece up and admire it from a distance, or wherever, because it will be beautiful from however close up you see it from.
Thanks for reading! keep checking back to see what else is new and I'll see you in the New Year!
Harry
