- 1 yard of 100% cotton duck cloth canvas
- Latex enamel paint
- Acrylic paints
- Water based polyurethane
- Sewing Machine Thread
- You need to pre-shrink your canvas before applying the paint. Now since our project is small, I tossed mine into the washer & dryer…NO FABRIC SOFTENER. This is not how you would prepare a canvas that is larger because it would become a wrinkly mess and there is virtually no way to iron out the wrinkles. Also, the crease in the fabric from where it was folded on the bolt WILL NOT iron out. So, the fabric will be enough to make two floor cloths.
- On the cotton setting, with spray, iron your fabric and remove as many wrinkles as you possibly can.
- Using the original “fabric bolt” fold as a guide, cut your fabric into two pieces. Then lay out your fabric and cut to the desired size (allowing a 1″ hem on all 4 sides).
- Press a 1″ seam around all 4 sides of your canvas. (I will refer to the side that “shows” the folded edges as the wrong side and the other side as the right side”. Using a marker or pencil, mark the intersection where the two seams cross in each corner.
- Folding your fabric toward the right side (it will seem funny because it’s going against the fold), bring the two marks together and fold the fabric diagonally.
- Sew a diagonal seam from the point where the pressed seams intersect to the two marks on the canvas.
- Trim off the excess fabric to remove the bulk.
- Turn the seam and flatten. Use the tip of your scissors or a butter knife to push out the corners so they are nice and square.
- Press your newly mitered corners and all around the edges of your canvas.
- Sew the edges of your canvas to make a nice, finished edge.
Okay, now that our canvas is prepped, are you ready to get painting? You will need to apply your base coats with a latex enamel paint. Do NOT use regular latex paint…it MUST be latex enamel. This is a much more durable paint that won’t crack. I found a this mis-tint at Home Depot.
- You will want to paint your canvas on a tarp and on a flat surface. With the right side down, paint over the seams (folded edges). This will keep the floor cloth from fraying. Dry thoroughly
- Flip your floor cloth over so the right side is up. Starting at one corner, apply your first coat of paint. Try to apply your paint in the same direction. It will take more paint than you think since the fabric will soak it up. Once it is completely covered allow it to dry.
- Apply a second coat of paint and allow to dry thoroughly.
Now it’s time to decorate your floor cloth. I did mine free hand but you can use stencils, masking tape to create stripes, or whatever you’s like.
- Gather the acrylic paints that you’d like to use to decorate your floor cloth.
- Paint/stencil/mask the design you’d like. Have fun! Trust me, it’ll look GREAT! Allow your floor cloth to dry over night.
- Now you need to seal your floor cloth. Apply 2-3 coats of a water based polyurethane. I used Polycrylic but a water based polyurethane for floors would also work well.
Now place your floor cloth in your room! I made mine to put in my woman cave next to my painted/upholstered chair.
Here’s a view of my floor cloth in my woman cave. I think it looks amazing, don’t you?
I hope you try making a floor cloth too! I think I’ll try making a long runner for my hallway upstairs! If you like this project, you should stop by my Woman Cave post. This room used to be an old side porch that was just a storage dump place in our house. In this room, I made a floor out of paper bags & RIT dye, I reupholstered the chair, I decoupaged the desk, I made the sewing machine cover,and more! You can find the links to all these proejets by going to…
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