DIY Gallery Wrap

This is a project I did a little over a year ago.  I really like the looks of gallery wrapped frames, but wanted to do a series of smaller ones and I couldn't find anything smaller than an 8x10.  So I hacked together my own way. 

Materials

5x7" box frame - I got mine at Hobby Lobby for 3 bucks


Inkjet Canvas Cloth - Office Depot - About 10 bucks


Straight Edge
x-Acto Knife
Sharpie marker
Penceil
Fabric glue
Cutting Board

The Print
The frame is for a 5x7" print, but we need enough along the sides to wrap around.  The first one of these I did I measured out exactly and printed a 9.75x7.75" print, but wound up a little short on the top and bottom edges.  So for this one I printed it 10x8" to make it go all the way around and it came out almost perfect.



Finding the centers
Before we start cutting and gluing we need to find the center of the frame and print to make lining them up easier. The easiest way to do this is to take your straight edge and run it from one corner diagonal to the other and make a line about halfway across. Switch the straight edge to the other diagonal and make another line. Where these two lines intersect is the center.

You’ll need a center cross on the back of the print and on the frame. Don’t worry, neither mark will be visible on the finished frame.



Your cross will look like this.



Repeat on the back of the print.



Lining up the print and frame
Now it’s pretty easy to get them aligned. With the print face down put the frame on top and trace around the frame and you’ll get this on the back of your print.



A few cuts
You need to make 4 cuts to allow your print to wrap around the frame. Mine are parallel to the long side because it’s a vertical picture and I wanted the print to wrap on the top and bottom. If the print had been horizontal I would have cut the other direction.

The cuts will be in line with the vertical edges from the edge of the image to the lines.


Gluing the front
Lay a thin layer of craft glue onto the fabric within the box you traced and place the frame on top, being careful to line up the crosses. The open side of the frame should be up.


Gluing the sides
Next spread a thin layer of glue along one of the long sides and fold it up onto the frame. Hold it in place for a few seconds until the glue sets. Repeat on the other side.


Take the two small flaps left from your cuts and glue them to the top of the frame. These will be hidden in the final project.


Lay a thin layer of glue on the remaining sides and fold them over the flaps you just glued down.


Trimming the edges
Your edges will probably go a little beyond the back edges of your plastic frame. Simply take your x-Acto and trim using the plastic as a guide.

And we’re done
This is the first one I did so the image doesn't match, but the idea's the same.

I actually thought about that right after I hung 3 prints I did this way.  What kept me from it was the thought of staples sticking out.  It didn't even cross my mind to staple to the back.

Ryan, I don't have any references for you at the moment, but there are a lot of 'purist' or 'traditional' painters just like in anything else.  These people will not buy canvas at the hobby/art stores.  They buy it on rolls and prime it and stretch it themselves.  My point is that with an internet search, you could probably find some very good tutorials on how to professionally stretch canvas yourself, as well as how best to build the stretcher frame.  This would keep you from being restricted by size at all and could prove very useful for this type of display if you want to do it.  If you cannot find anything that suits you and you would like some more information; I do have a couple friends that I know stretch their own canvas and I would be happy to contact them and ask them to demonstrate to me how it's done.  Then maybe I can be of more help to you.

Travis

It's really not that hard to stretch canvas.  I buy my stretcher bars at a local art store.  I did a search on the net and figured it out quite easily.  When I bought my first set of stretcher bars at the art store, one of the staff went over the procedure with me. 

Make sure to spray with a protective varnish after the ink has cured.   Dusting will be much easier then and it should last longer.

Natalie

You don't stretch a print as tight as an artist's canvas.  I also stretch my prints on top of a clean soft blanket to avoid scraping off any of the ink.  Because I only have the Epson R2400, I tend to do 10x10 or 10x12 prints.  To do a wrap, I print them 13x13 or 13x15.  The sides of the stretcher bars that I use are only one inch so that gives me a half inch to staple on the back.  It's fussy work but it's not difficult to do.

Natalie