Daisy Janie frame

It's getting that time again, Valentine's Day. Instead of coming up with something red, pink and glittery for your special someone how about something both cool and useful? Like a patchwork fabric frame? I made mine out of Daisy Janie fabrics, with a little Kaffe Fassett shot cotton thrown in and I love how it turned out.

. If you have any questions about the instructions (and there is a good chance of that) just email me and I'll answer.

Materials: For the front

1/8 (A)

⅛ (B)

⅛ (C)

1/8 (D)

5/8 yard of piping

For the back

1/2 yard for outside back (E)

1/2 yard for inside back (F)

Ribbon one

12 inch dowel rod

Start by cutting the pieces for the front. (A) Cut 4 pieces 4x 4 1/2 (B) Cut 4 pieces 3x4 ( C) Cut 2 pieces 2x4 (D) Cut 2 pieces 6 x 4 ½

Cut your pieces for the back. (E) Cut 2 pieces 12x8 (F) Cut 2 pieces 12x4 Use a 1/2 inch seam allowance

You will start by stitching together your pieces for the front of the frame's top and bottom strips. Arrange pieces in order of A, B, C, B, A. Starting at the left side take pieces A and B and lay them right sides together and stitch down the 4” side. Do the same with piece B to C, C to B and B to A. You will now have the top strip of your frame. Do the same for your bottom.

Here is your ABCBA stripYou see in this picture piece A lined up edge to edge with piece B, right sides together. Granted, you can't see piece B as it is under A, but you get the idea.

When your top and bottom strips are ready it is time to attach them with piece D. We will start with your top strip. On the left side of your strip you will match piece D to piece A at the 4 1/2" side, right sides together. Stitch. Do the same on the right side of your frame.

Here you see piece D right sides together, short side matching with piece AAnd here is what you will see when you press piece D open after stitching to A. When you have the top strip stitched to both D panels, add the bottom strip in the same manner. You should now have a patchwork square with an open square in the middle. Be sure that you have pressed open all of your seams. Now fold over 1/2 seam all around the open square and press to the inside. Now it's time for piping!

Take your piping and cut it into 5 1/2 strips. Pin a piping strip to one side of the open square. The edge of the fabric should but up to the cord of the piping. Stitch along the edge of the fabric...if you have an edgestitch foot, now would be a great time to get it out.

Here is the front of your frame after you have finished with the piping. You are almost done, now for the back. (One possible confusing note about the back. I was trying to be a good sewist and use scraps in this project and my piece E is shown with 2 fabrics, as I had to make do with what I had. You will just have one fabric.)

Now take one E piece and one F piece. Place the fabrics right sides together and stitch down the right 13” side. Open and turn it so the fabrics are wrong side together. Press . Do the same for your other back piece.

Here is my piece E with piece F on top, right sides together
And here is one back piece turned right side out and pressed. Piece E is facing up, you can see piece F on the back.

Take your front piece and lay it right side up. Lay the back pieces on top, E side down. Line the back and front pieces up raw edge to raw edge. To do this you will have to overlap your two back pieces. Pin around the edge of the frame.

Here is the front of the frame and one side of the back ready to be pinned, right sides together long sides matching.
And here are both back pieces. You will notice an overlap of fabric in the middle. Measure down from the top of your frame one inch, mark. Stitch along the top edge of the frame. Now you will stitch around the other three sides, stopping and starting at the one inch mark. This will leave an opening for your dowel rod

This is what your dowel opening at the top of your frame will look like.

Turn frame right side out.
press
Now you want to make a ledge for your picture to sit on. You will stitch in the ditch between the piping cord and the fabric on the bottom of your inner square.

Go to your dowel rod pocket at the top of the frame. Take your dowel rod and ribbon (cut to your specified hanging length). Tie one end of the dowel rod with the ribbon. Push the untied edge through your open seam. Tie the ribbon to the other edge.

Insert your picture and hang!