Make your very own notice board

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A great way to add a touch of personality to your home is add some art however with wall space at a premium in a lot of homes a notice board can offer a practical solution.  A notice board can be a piece of art when not in use but is also useful as can help you get organised.

Notice boards can be incredibly simple to make and require very little sewing skills.

Step One – choose your notice board size

If you have a specific space in your home that you would like to add a board to measure and find a blank artist canvas that is the size that you require.

Personally I used 16″x20″ which I found on Amazon these come in a pack of 5 but I am sure you could easily find a use for the others or even give them out as gifts!

Step Two – cut wadding

Next cut a piece of wadding that is the same size as the canvas.  This will add some cushioning to the board and will give a more luxurious finish.  The wadding does not need to be thick it is just providing a small amount of padding.   The wadding should be exactly the same size as the front of the canvas, any over hang will only give a more uneven finish to the edges of your board.

Step Three – cut your fabric

Select a fabric that you would like to cover your notice board in.  I love www.ohsewcrafty.co.uk for my fabrics as they have such a range available.  Linen look fabrics in autumnal colours seem to be most popular at the moment.  However you can pick whichever fabric will match your décor.  You could even use spare fabric from curtains or cushions to add a common theme to your décor.

You will need to cut a piece of fabric that is about 20cm wider than the canvas all the way around.  This will enable you to fold over the raw cut edges of the fabric before you neatly secure the fabric to the canvas.

Step Four – Layer up

Place your piece of wadding on top of the canvas.  Followed by your piece of cut fabric.  Make sure that you have the orientation of the fabric the correct way for the way you will be hanging your board.

Step Five – Secure fabric

Fold over the raw cut edge of the fabric leaving you with a clean edge.  Then fold the fabric around the back of the canvas frame and secure with a staple gun.  I start by adding a single staple to the middle of each side.

I then move to trim the corners of the fabric this will give a cleaner finish when folding the corners of the board over.  Fold the fabric over the corner of the board to give a neat fold over.  Secure in place with the staple gun.

Work your way around the interior of the canvas frame folding and securing the fabric with a staple gun.  Try and keep the fabric as taut as possible so it leaves a nice finish.  If you don’t have anyone to help you hold the fabric tight while you staple, work against a wall.  This will enable you to keep the tension whilst stapling.

Step Six – Ribbon straps

Have a bit of an experiment to decide how you would like the ribbon to be placed on the board.  I personally prefer a large X across the board and then smaller pieces working across the larger X.

Once cut secure your ribbon in place by stapling the ribbon to the back of the canvas holding it in place stretched across the front.

Step Seven – Buttons

Where the ribbon crosses over on the front of the board sew a button or toggle.  This button will secure the ribbon and stop it from sliding.  At the same time by securing the buttons tightly you will created a padded effect to the board.  There are a wide range of buttons available so have a look around and make sure to find something that matches your board.

Step Eight – Hanger

Now your board is almost complete you just need to add cord to the back of the board to enable it be hung.  I usually staple a doubled over piece of strong string across the board.  The board does not weigh very much so this method of hanging should be adequate to hang.

Alterations

There are so many variations that you can make to this simple notice board to ensure the most useful addition to your home.

Size – an obvious one is altering the size.  If you only have a small area of wall space you can make the board a lot smaller.  I have sold many mini boards that I have created, they are only A4 in size and enable the possibility to use in a much smaller wall space.

Ribbon – you are not limited to only using ribbon.  There are a wide range of cords, strapping or twine that can be incorporated into your board.  Depending on your fabric choice and what goes best with it.

Additions – to add another storage element to your notice board you can also add some pockets.  An extra panel of fabric placed along the bottom can be stitched up the middle to create pockets.  You can make these are large as you like depending on their intended use.

Let me see how your notice board turned out and if there were any other alterations that you made to make a more useful.  Each board can be completely personalised depending on your fabric, ribbon and button choices.

If you have enjoyed making this board, you may also find our DIY decoupaged letters a great project to upgrade your décor. https://www.claireyatfairycrafters.com/crafty-interiors-decoupage-letters/