The Artful Home: Fabric Art

True confession: Art intimidates me.

I'm well over the sort of mass-produced prints (Man Ray, anyone?) that decorated my post-collegiate homes. And yet I haven't quite graduated to buying much "real" art -- for one, a lot of it is simply out of our budget. But even when it comes to buying smaller pieces from emerging artists, I don't quite trust my eye yet.

So for now, I'm making due with framed prints from various artists that I've discovered via Etsy and at a few local galleries and exhibition spaces. Well, that, and hanging fabric.

I started with the retro-inspired fabric above, which I bought from the awesome Tonic Living a couple of years ago. I knew I wanted to do some sort of project with it -- at first I was thinking pillows, until my lack of sewing skills and even a sewing machine put the kibosh on that idea.

Then I decided to simply buy some cheap art-store canvases, stretch the fabric around them, and affix it with a staple gun. Voila -- instant "art."

Since then, I've expanded my fabric art collection. A quick tour:

(Please forgive the total in-progress nature of the home you can glimpse around these, and the fact that most of the canvases are still sitting on the floor. One of these days, I swear, I will get around to hanging them... )

I picked up this Inhabit stretched canvas at the last Design Public warehouse sale, and hung it in our downstairs hallway.

Recognize this? It was an "eBay Find" I blogged awhile back. (I don't normally bid on the things I blog, but couldn't resist this one.)

Another Inhabit stretched canvas snagged at the Design Public warehouse sale.

I freakin' love this huge Marimekko print (I bought one of Textile Arts' handy frame kits for it, since a canvas this size would've been prohibitively expensive and heavy). I haven't hung it yet because I think we're going to repaint the dining room -- I love the red, but it's just not working with the colors I'm drawn to these days.

This is some groovy vintage fabric I found on eBay Australia. It's destined for the unfortunate pink bathroom.

More of that stretched Tonic Living fabric, which currently resides in my mad-for-blue daughter's room.

Have any fabric art projects of your own you'd like to share -- or other surprising ideas for using fabric or non-traditional items as art around your home? Send them in!