Whether you have a few scraps of vintage fabric handed down to you by your grandmother or recently purchased fabric from an antique store or yard sale, you may be surprised how easily you can make the fabric fit into your current decorating scheme. Vintage fabric often has distinct patterns and prints that can give your home a classic and elegant look. Here are some ideas to help you find a way to incorporate your vintage fabric into your home decor, regardless of how much fabric you have.
Throw Pillows
Vintage fabric can make your couch, chair or bed more visually interesting if you use it to create one or more throw pillows. If you only have a small amount of fabric, you can use the fabric for one side of the pillow and an inexpensive fabric from your local craft store for the back of the pillow in order to use as little of your vintage fabric as possible. Throw pillows are extremely easy to make using fabric, batting, a sewing needle and thread. Simply Lay the fabric on a flat surface with the printed sides facing in and sew a running stitch around three of the sides. Flip the fabric right side out, stuff the fabric with batting and sew the top of the pillow closed.
Upholstered Seats
If your kitchen table has fabric seats, you can give them a makeover by reupholstering them with your vintage fabric. Remove the seats from the chair and lay them upside down on the fabric. Pull the fabric over the underside of the seat one section at a time and use a staple gun to secure the fabric in place. Each time you staple a new section, pull tighter on the next for a tight finish. Be sure to fold the corners so that they lay flat when you staple the fabric.
Framed Prints
Framed fabric can serve as a unique addition to your walls and is an easy and quick project to make to decorate your home. Simply cut a piece of fabric to fit inside of an ornamental picture frame and slip the fabric into the frame as you would a photograph. To prevent the fabric from wrinkling, you may consider hot gluing it to a piece of cardstock paper before placing it in the frame.
Fabric Covered Glass
To dress up your armoire or china cabinet, cover the glass or plastic paneling with your vintage fabric. Lay the fabric face down on a flat surface and place the plastic or glass on top of it. Fold the edges of the fabric over the back of the plastic or glass and hot glue it into place. Then you simply need to replace the panel into the furniture with the fabric facing outward.
