DIY Photo Canvas Grosgrain Tutorial: Take 2

So, the last DIY Photo canvas I tried came out....okayish. If you were using that technique on a smaller scale in black and white it would be much easier to do without air bubbles.


This is my second attempt. This time I went a completely different direction and used Spoonflower to print a picture onto a linen canvas sheet. The nice thing about using Spoonflower is that you only have to buy one yard and you can make it up to 53" wide! Now, that's big!

When I got it in the mail I laid it out and ironed it flat.

Then I bought 3 strips of 1.5" wide wood at 8' long from Home Depot and cut them into 3- 34.5" strips, 2- 53" strips....

....and used a staple gun to connect them together.  

 Until I had this frame.

 Finally I drilled screws into all the joints to make the frame.

 Then I painted the linen canvas over with Matte Medium. It dries clear. Two coats.

Then I stapled the canvas at top middle, stretched it as much as I could and stapled it at bottom middle. Then did the same with the left and right middle.

After that I kept working my way around the frame stretching and stapling as I went.
Be sure to wrap canvas and staple to back of frame, not sides.

Some other tips. Don't oversaturate your photo in Photoshop or another editing software when using Spoonflower. Remember that you need room to wrap your canvas around the frame so leave some space for that on the fabric.


$27.00 = Printed canvas from Spoonflower including shipping
$9 = Matte Medium
$8 = Wood for frame
$44 = Total for a 36"x53" frame.


Another suggestion. A Box of Chocolates, suggested Artscow for their good prices. I checked them out and they do have some good deals. Something that you can try is having them print out your picture on canvas without a frame and you stretch it over a canvas yourself. It's cheaper that way. You can get a 36"x48" canvas for only $50. But they also have stretched canvas photos for up to 24"x20" for only $50.