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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves

October 17, 2013 3 Comments

How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves at Hands Occupied

As an apartment dweller, I move more often than I’d love to. Sometimes a move means that the black shelves I bought for my old place didn’t exactly coordinate with the light finish wood of my kitchen cabinets. Rather than waste a chunk of change on new shelves that specifically match my honey-hued cupboards, I thought I’d take the opportunity to get a little creative.

Supplies

wooden shelves
Mod Podge Matte
Mod Podge Hard Coat
sanding & priming supplies (as needed)
fabric scissors
iron (optiona)
tape measure
sponge brush
brayer

Directions

If your shelves need sanded, that’s the first step. My handy dandy power sander was necessary to avoid tendinitis and endless hours of rubbing back and forth to get the stubborn finish off. Wipe off any dust with a damp cloth, let your shelves dry, and then prime them.

How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves at Hands Occupied

If your fabric is the same color as your primer, you don’t need to paint over the primer. If not, paint a layer of paint on your shelf that matches your fabric. The color of the shelf below your fabric will show through when you add the fabric. The shelves I made over are Ikea ekby bjarnums, in the dark finish, with brackets that cover the left and right-facing ends, so I only needed to prime/paint the front edge, top and bottom of the shelves. My fabric is white, which is why I only needed white primer on my shelves.

How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves at Hands Occupied

Cut a piece of fabric large enough to cover your shelf plus half an inch on the ends. To reiterate, since my shelf only required coverage on the top, bottom and front edge, I only needed a rectangle large enough to wrap around my shelf like a Christmas present, but with open ends on the short sides of the shelf and a little bit extra on the long side to wrap the fabric over to the edge that will be facing the wall the shelf is mounted on. Make sense? Holler in the comments if not! :)

Apply a layer of Matte Mod Podge onto one side of your shelf and carefully align the fabric so it lays square on the shelf, leaving an extra half inch of fabric hanging off the first end. Right now is the time to get your fabric perfectly straight – you won’t be able to adjust it after this step. When you’re all lined up, smooth down the fabric onto the shelf and Mod Podge layer.

How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves at Hands Occupied

Paint Mod Podge to the short, front edge of the shelf and carefully fold the fabric over it, smoothing it straightly into place. Feel free to pull on your fabric as needed, but don’t pull on it so hard as to stretch your fabric, warping the pattern.

Next, apply Mod Podge to the third side of the shelf and smooth the fabric into place once again. There should be about a half inch of extra fabric on both raw ends. Paint a last layer of Mod Podge onto the wall-side edge of your shelf and stick the raw ends to it.

How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves at Hands Occupied

The next phase is to – one side at a time – paint Mod Podge all over the outside of your fabric and use a brayer to force the Mod Podge all the way through the fabric. Do all four sides and let the whole shelf dry completely.

How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves at Hands Occupied

After your shelves dry, paint over all four sides again with a layer of Mod Podge Hard Coat, and let your shelves dry completely once again. Before hanging them up, let them sit and cure for four days. The curing makes your shelves less sticky and more water resistant, which is always desirable in a decoupage project!

How-to: Fabric Covered Shelves at Hands Occupied

I shared a version of this tutorial at the uber-fantastic Mod Podge Rocks!

Filed Under: Decoupage, Home Decor, How-to, My Work Elsewhere Tagged With: craft, decoupage craft, diy, fabric covered shelves, fabric upholstered shelves, floral, home decor, mod podge craft, shelf

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Claudia Neves

    April 2, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    Lindo Trabalho……

    Reply
  2. Kathy

    June 8, 2020 at 10:42 am

    I am doing this currently using a duvet cover, and have successfully stuck down all sides of the fabric on to the shelf, do I do the full layer of mod podge once this is dried or pretty much straight away??

    Reply
    • Heidi

      June 8, 2020 at 12:14 pm

      Just saturate it – it’s so easy. As you use the brayer/roller to press out all the wrinkles, excess Podge will naturally come out. So fun! I haven’t done this in AGES. I’d love to hear how it comes out too! -Heidi :)

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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handsoccupied

Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
This dang Yarniversal Championship Belt just makes This dang Yarniversal Championship Belt just makes me so happy! Even more now that it’s helped me connect with fellow crafting & wrestling crossover fans. ❤️ 
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On the blog today - link is in bio, you can take a look at a bunch more process photos that didn’t make the Design Diary video. For maker-designer types in particular, the post has detail shots & a full supply list. I’m so happy with how the @knit_picks Wool of the Andes colors worked out combined with some neutral handspun! ✂️🧶
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Pictured: A close up of a smiling woman with a punch needle version of a wrestling title belt on her shoulder. 
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#punchneedle #handsoccupied #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #wooloftheandes #knitpicks #rugmaking #heidigustad #universalchampion #titlebelt #wool
Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s c Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s coincidentally International Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day today, so I’d be remiss not to share a first look at this project finished JUST in time to wear while I watch some rasslin’ on a pirate ship in a football stadium in Tampa! 💪🏻 I’m excited to watch tonight’s women’s matches the most. Eee!
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Pictured: A blond woman in a denim dress and glasses wearing a giant belt made with punch needle. The belt is made with wool in primary colors and was inspired by the WWE Universal Championship title belt. 
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This is just a preview - after jab 2.0 tomorrow (feeling grateful 🙏🏼), I’ll be editing together a vlog about the design process for this wooly waist cover. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to make some of your wilder craft ideas come to life. Stuff you’ll never find a pattern for, you know? I’ll finish editing that ASAP, but I might take a few days to edit if I feel like trash from 💉 and only want to watch wrestling and wrestling YouTube for a day or two. 😂
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#ipnrhd #punchneedle #wwe #wrestling #championshipbelt #wool #yarn #handmade #universalchampionship #universalchampion #rugmaking #wrestlingfan #wrestlemania37 #wrestlemania
A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-ins A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-inspired punch needle project! It’s interesting to see how fuzzy the handspun beige yarn is compared with the primary color sections of @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky. ❤️💛💙🤎 
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Pictured: The back of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool sits on the work.
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#punchneedle #woolrug #rugmaking  #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #griefproject #handsoccupied #wrestlingfan #universalchampion #yarn #yarncraft #wool #needlepunch
Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishin Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishing up the punch needling part of this crazy @wwe inspired project by tonight. 💪🏻🧶 Anybody else have crafty plans for this fine spring day? 
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Pictured: A blond woman sits, smiling and holding an in-progress punch needle project inspired by the Universal Championship belt. Houseplants are in the background and there’s lots of sun. 
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#punchneedle #griefproject #handsoccupied #heidigustad #wrestlingcrafts #wwe #universalchampion #universalchampionship #wool #wooloftheandes #primarycolors #oxfordpunchneedle
I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back from the past few weeks, and as I dip my toe back into production mode, the long-promised seamed sweater knitting YouTube series is at the top of my list. I've got FOUR versions of a simple sweater I've been playing with since last JULY to feature as a free pattern for folks who want to knit along during the series. Pictured is the first prototype for the series, knit in 2 colors of @knit_picks Mighty Stitch yarn. I imagine this soon-to-be short sleeved number will come in handy as an emergency Waldo costume or Christmas sweater. 🌲 
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I've got my own list of topics I think folks would like to see in a series like this: things like tips for construction, working with vintage patterns, how to seam as invisibly as possible, and more, but as always, I'd love to hear from you: What scares you about knitting seamed sweaters? What would be helpful to cover, especially since we'll be doing more long form video content. I get so much positive feedback on my series of 20 minute+ intarsia tutorials, so I'm using those as a starting point as I produce this series. Seamed sweaters using vintage or self-improvised patterns are one of my favorite things on the planet, so I'm eager to share some seamed sweater skills with y'all super sweet folks. 😉 
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Pictured: A red and white striped, short sleeved sweater knit in pieces that have yet to be seamed. They are laid out on a yellow and orange colorblock background and one sleeve is yet to be bound off. 
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#handsoccupied #seamedsweater #kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #waldo #waldosweater #wip #yarncraft #yarn #knitting #knittersofinstagram #heidigustad #vintageknitting #sweaterknitting
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