2012 Spoonflower Staff Challenge Pt. 4: Transforming An Old Dresser With Fabric

This is the fourth in a series of posts describing the projects that are part of our 2012 Spoonflower Staff Challenge. Voting begins on Thursday, March 15, 2012.

When Adam and I (Sarah) were presented with the Spoonflower staff challenge, we brainstormed a few different projects, but ultimately Adam came up with the brilliant idea to cover a dresser with fabric. This was inspired by Apartment Therapy and it’s a project that isn’t done very often. It was also a project that others could easily emulate to spruce up an old piece of furniture that would otherwise be on its way to the trash.

Adam, being the computer-design-savvy member of the team, came up with a bunch of great designs and, after tweaking the colors and sizes, we chose seven designs that would make it to the printing stage. We also decided to use our linen-cotton canvas because we loved the texture of it as a contrast to the smooth surface of the dresser.

After the designs were printed out, we again narrowed them down to five designs that we thought worked well together based on color and composition.

Next, we bought an old dresser off of Craigslist and got to work on its makeover! 

I had previously done some research on how to attach the fabric to the wooden surface and found that Heat N' Bond Iron-On webbing was the best choice for the job. It can be found at craft stores, including Jo-Ann Fabric & Crafts, and costs about $2.99 per yard.

To cover the fronts of the drawers and the top of the dresser, we first made templates of each shape from pieces of poster board. Doing this first made it easier to get the shape right when ironing the fabric on to the dresser.

The next step was to cut out pieces of the Heat N' Bond webbing and the fabric. We used the template as a guide but made sure we cut out pieces that were slightly larger than the template.

 We ironed the webbing to the fabric. The rough side of the webbing faces down onto the back of the fabric.

Then we used the template to cut out the exact shape we needed so the edges would be clean.

Next, we peeled off the paper liner on the back of the webbing and placed it down onto the dresser surface to be ironed flat.

And voila! An old dresser is transformed into a crafty new piece of furniture!