Bat Wall Art
Hey ghouls and creeps! It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and in celebration of Halloween the next two months will be packed with all kinds of creepy but of course colorful decor and baking tutorials. This week I made this super easy, bat wall art that makes for a great statement piece if you’re looking for a festive way to adorn your walls. I went with a more traditional Halloween color scheme, but the possibilities are endless depending on the look and theme you desire. When considering my color options, I took into consideration what would pair nicely with the other items I’m planning to include in this spooky decor arrangement which will be reviewed in the upcoming weeks.
This project is SO EASY, I can not emphasize it enough. The cutting of the bats is a little intricate, but past there it’s all straight stitch lines, ironing, and stapling!
Step 1: Make your Canvas Frame: Begin putting your frame together be shimmying the stretcher bars together at the corners. Slide all four corners as far as you can without using a hammer, and then apply wood glue on the tabs before sliding the mitered corners into place. Use a hammer to tap the frame together wherever the tabs are too snug to slide easily. Make sure that your frame’s sides are straight before leaving frame to dry. Follow manufacturer’s instructions when determining how long is necessary for glue to be completely dry.
Step 2: Cut your Bat Templates: Using the PDF below cut two of each bat making sure to mirror the second one. Pro tip: Iron your Heat n’ Bond to the backside of your fabric prior to cutting out the templates, and then use the paper side to trace out bats more easily.
Step 3: Prepare Background Material: Cut your background fabric to a 26”X30” piece rectangle, as well as the canvas backing (I backed my material with a cotton canvas to provide more stability, if you have a canvas or home decor weight fabric backing it with canvas is not necessary).
Sew the two pieces together doing a perimeter seam about 3/8” from the edge. I then took pinking shears and trimmed around the raw edge to reduce fraying. If you don’t have pinking shears, you can bind the edge or do an overlock stitch to provide the same result.
Step 4: Applying Appliques: I then applied 1” painter’s masking tape 2 1/2” in from each edge to be able to see where the canvas edge would be.
Peal paper backing off the back of all bats and arrange them within the taped off frame. I arranged mine having the smallest bats occupy the bottom right corner, and then gradually increase in size as they progressed to the top left.
Once you’ve figured out your arrangement iron bats until they adhere completely to the background material.
Step 5: Staple Fabric to Frame: Lay material so that the applique side is face down and then lay frame on top of material on wrong side. Position frame so that it appears to be in the center of your fabric piece. Begin folding the top down around the frame and staple in place. Then do the same to the bottom pulling the material tight.
To do the sides, pretend you’re wrapping a gift by creating two forty-five degree folds, then tuck inside fold so it’s not visible and staple in place.
I did this to both corners on each side before stapling the rest of that side. Repeat these steps until both sides have been stapled.
You’re finished! Apply hanging hardware to the backside if needed. I ultimately tilted mine on a shelf to avoid putting more holes in the walls, and it looks so good! This piece would also look great on a mantel flanked with pumpkins, skulls, and other Halloween decor!
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Ready for your next project? Here are some tutorials on the blog I think you’ll like! Frame Flip tutorial: https://britnijade.com/frame-flip/, Macrame Wall Hanging: https://britnijade.com/macrame-wall-hanging-w-bones/, or the Spider Web Macrame: https://britnijade.com/spider-web-macrame/. Enjoy!
