Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Grain Sack Wanna Be..

Vintage grain sacks seem to be a big part of the French country look. People are using them to make pillows, purses, framed art, seat covers and many other projects. I do not have access to vintage grain sacks and if I did I don't think I would want to pay for them. I have seen a lot of DIY'ers making their own grain sacks by using graphics from the Graphic Fairy and fabric.
While cleaning up my garage I spotted a frame that I had purchased a few years back. This frame had a fun vintage like apple farm picture. It accidentally got left outside for quite some and the rain ruined the picture. I didn't want to throw the frame away because I thought maybe someday I would do something with it. When I saw it I thought the framed grain sack idea would be perfect. I do not have a before picture because I painted it before I remembered to take one. The frame was already a pretty Robin's Egg blue but I wanted it to be black, so I painted one layer of Old White Chalk Paint and over that I painted one layer of Graphite. I printed up this image from the Graphic Fairy:


If you click on the image it will take you to the Graphic Fairy and a towel project, which I hope to try out. I liked the look of the grain sacks that have the lines on them, so I taped up the drop cloth I was using to section off lines. I mixed a bit of Aubusson Blue, Versailles, and just a splash of Old White to make a greenish blue color. I then painted the lines waited for them to dry and got to work on the image. I had hoped to use a Freezer Paper transfer technique like this one: http://gardenberger.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-paper-transfer-tutorial.html but my printer is a laser printer. From what I have read, laser printers will not work ( I do have an old ink jet so I will dig that out for my future crafts). Instead I used a projector to project the image on to the drop cloth and painted the image using acrylic paint. This was tedious, and in the future I will back the fabric with spray adhesive and maybe cardboard to give it a hard surface to paint on. I didn't do this and the brush just didn't paint well. Learning as I go is becoming my motto! Once that was all dry I took a little bit of sandpaper to try and age it and then I stapled the cloth to the frame. This honestly was the hardest part, I could not for the life of me get it straight. So the image is a little wonky, which will drive me nuts. I will again in the future stabilize the material first, then paint. I have to say if it wasn't for the crookedness of the lines, I would be pleased with the outcome of this project. I will re-do it in the future, but not today! As always, I welcome helpful tips and tricks that you may have.



If there is any doubt how wonderful this could look here is some actual Grain Sack Eye Candy for you!




Linking to:



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Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special
 
 

7 comments:

  1. I think this just may go on a barn door I have...yep. It is for sure!

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  2. That looks so good. Love grain sacks and you did a great job. Thanks for sharing at Wow.

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  3. Hi, I was just looking through the links at Clean & Scentsible and I saw your awesome grain sack copy! Great minds think alike! My project took some time as well, but it cost a heck of a lot less than the real deal, so I'm OK with the labor time! Anyhow, love your work!!

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  4. Looks outstanding...lovin' it!!!

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  5. Love it!!!! I actually think it looks more authentic because the line is not straight. It looks like the fabric has moved in the frame. I also LOVE the frame! I am your newest follower. Hope you can visit me sometime soon!

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  6. These are wonderful! Thank you for joining me at Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

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  7. I just discovered the world of grain sacks and really want some! I have been stalking eBay hoping I'll get lucky and actually be able to afford to buy one. So far no luck though! I too have seen them copied on blogs and think I may have to go that route. Yours turned out great. Thanks for visiting my blog...it was a while ago...I got really behind on emails and am just now catching up. I'm a new follower and think your blog is bright and fun. Sort of like eye candy!

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