Cottagecore Art from Vintage Floral Sheets

Cottagecore Art from Vintage Floral Sheets

Cottagecore is all the rage right now, as is a granny chic decor style known as grandmillenial. So, I decided to make some cottagecore art that fits all of those styles by upcycling couple of vintage floral sheets. With a modern twist, of course, by creating a wrapped canvas type of wall hanging!

It all started when I’d posted a question on my Facebook page– asking which fabric I should use in a project.

vintage floral sheets

Fabric “B” won in a landslide, but I’ll let you in on a little secret- I ended up using both!

For this latest and greatest repurposed sheet project, I borrowed the idea behind this project that used a vintage feed sack. This is, embroidering on a vintage background for dimensional art.

Beginner embroidery on a vintage feed sack

But instead of a heavier burlap background, this time I’m using a vintage floral sheet that fits the cottagecore aesthetic.

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Vintage Floral Art for the Cottagecore Aesthetic

To create the cottagecore art that I was envisioning, I needed some picture frames from the thrift store. They had to be wooden and rectanglular shape, since I planned on creating wrapped canvases with the vintage floral sheets.

First, I decided to spray paint (hurray for my easy grip) the wooden frames white. I didn’t want the darker wood to show through the sheet.

painting a wooden picture frame

After the painted frame dried, I played around with my frame and vintage floral sheet and until I had found the pattern I wanted to work with. I liked the off-centered-ness of this section of fabric, and I thought it would be perfect for my idea of embroidery wall art.

making some vintage floral art

Then, I cut out the section of sheet, leaving a good 2” (roughly) border around my frame.

After ironing my freshly cut fabric, I turned everything over with the bright/right side of the sheet swatch facing down and the white-painted side of my picture frame facing down on top of the sheet.

Pulling the edges taut, I staple-gunned (is that a verb?) the vintage floral sheet to the back of the frame.

attaching the vintage floral sheet to a wood frame

I folded the corners as if I were wrapping a gift and continued to *carefully* staple the fabric (all the while pulling tight) around the entire frame. I flipped it over and was very happy with the result!

cottagecore art to be embroidered

It resembled wrapped canvas art or wall hangings, which is exactly what I was going for!

Embroidery on Cottagecore Art

Next, I gathered my coordinating embroidery floss, which I had purchased earlier (using snippets of sheet to help me pick the right shades and hues).

embroidery floss for embroidery wall art

And then…I just kicked back, turned on a favorite show (time to catch up on The Righteous Gemstones!) and embroidered to my heart’s delight.

My stitching skills are limited to just a few hand embroidery stitches, but I was determined to make those work!

embroidery on vintage floral sheets

You know what? This was SO FUN TO WORK ON! And following the patterns on the vintage bed sheets is just about the easiest embroidery I can think of.

Not only is it easy, but the results are pretty spectacular, too. (Remember how I mentioned working on both sheets? This is on the second one.)

basic embroidery for cottagecore art

I didn’t embroider everything on either frame- just flowers and leaves, here and there. When all was said and done, I was thrilled with them both- and they’ll be perfect as cottagecore art! 

In the world of embroidery on printed fabric, I think like Goldilocks- not too little, not too much, but just right!

Cottagecore Art from Vintage Floral Sheets

And there you have it- my embroidery wall art that fits the grandmillenial aesthetic and cottagecore style perfectly. All from thrifted finds- vintage floral sheets and wooden picture frames!

cottagecore art from vintage floral sheets

I have no idea where I’ll hang these- but I just LOVED making them and think they turned out pretty well! You know what that means, don’t you? I’ll make more even if I don’t need them!

vintage floral art

If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for wall art, then you might also enjoy my window frame decor with vintage doilies project, as well!

Framed doilies as shabby chic wall decor

Craft on!

S

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embroidery wall art

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Sarah Ramberg is the owner of Sadie Seasongoods, a website that celebrates all things secondhand. From upcycling ideas and thrifted decor to vintage-centric travel itineraries, Sadie Seasongoods is a one-stop shop for anyone who loves thrifting and approachable repurposing ideas. Sarah is also the author of “Crafting with Flannel” and has been featured in numerous media outlets and magazines.

Comments

  1. I love this idea! Thanks so much for sharing at Vintage Inspiration Party.

  2. Oh my goodness! What a beautiful, creative project. I have some great vintage pillowcases that would be perfect for this. Pinned! Stopping by from Create and Share.

  3. I’m a sucker for the vintage linens too. I’ve had to stop collecting them because I’ve got such a stockpile (I’m hoping to learn to quilt eventually!) I love this method of using them though and might have to break into my stash before too long. Thanks for the inspiration!!

  4. These are gorgeous! I even like it before it’s embroidered and honestly someone limited like me would stop right there, lol! You think you’re limited by 3 stitches…I am limited by 0. 😉

    (hi from naturallynerdymommas.com through Crafty Allie)

  5. secondhandhouse2015 says

    Wow, those are great vintage linens. I have never been lucky enough to find any at my local thrift stores. I love the hand embroidery you did. I’ve been wanting to learn how to do that. Your wall art turned out so beautiful.

  6. Jann Olson says

    Great linens and such a fun idea to stitch a flower here and there. Love it! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

  7. What a beautiful project

  8. Super cute! Perfect for little girl room 🙂
    Thanks for linking up with us again.
    xx
    Mila (Idea Box)

  9. Oh. My. I HAD those sheets (on the left)! I believe they went to the church rummage sale a loooong time ago. Love this idea!!

  10. SO pretty! I never find anything that nice when I’m thrifting (linens-wise). Thanks for linking up!

  11. Donna Makowski says

    Awesome idea. I have some old sheets that I absolutely love but can’t use anymore (size wise) but can’t bear to get rid of them. This is a perfect way to decorate with them! And somehow I never thought of the quilting possibilities either!!!

  12. Most printed old sheets I find are a poly/cotton blend, which I don’t much like, but your idea of embroidering framed fabric is great! I have a huge fabric stash and I’m sure there are pieces just begging to be embroidered!

  13. Cute idea–will file this away to try sometime…thanks for sharing!

  14. Valerie@Occasionally Crafty says

    I never would’ve thought to do this! Love vintage sheets! Thanks for linking up to the Handmade Hangout!

  15. Wowzer! What a genius idea! Love it. Thank you for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things.

  16. What a great idea…and they came out beautiful. I’m not so talented to do this by hand but I’m thinking what maybe I could come up with using my embroidery machine. Thanks for sharing.
    PS-Stopping over from Inspiration Monday Linkup.

  17. Very pretty. I was wondering if it would work if the outlines were painted with either acrylics or puffy paint for those people who can’t thread a needle (or don’t want to.)

  18. Very cool idea! There are so many possibilities with the project. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty – we hope to see you again next week. 🙂

    ~Lorelai
    Life With Lorelai

  19. Wow, these are gorgeous. Great idea. Love the prints of the sheets.

  20. These are so cute! I love flowered sheets.

    I hope you can stop by:

    http://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com/2015/05/make-it-monday-springtime-in-paris-or.html

    Colletta

  21. This is such a lovely idea! Takes simple, sweet patterns and gives them just a little pop. Pinned.
    Would love if you shared this at our Yarn Fanatic Party – http://eyeloveknots.blogspot.com/2015/05/yarn-fanatic-party-35-string-theory.html.

  22. These are lovely! What a great way to put your own spin on an already lovely fabric! And so simple too! Glad I found you on Totally Terrific Tuesdays!

  23. i have both sets of linens. What a great idea. Thanks for sharing

  24. This is so pretty! I know I wouldn’t have the patience, but you did a beautiful job! I would have never thought of this.

  25. This is such a great project! I know what I’m going to keep my eye out for this yard sale season! Pinned and tweeted. Thanks for sharing over at Merry Monday! Hope to see you again next week!

  26. What a fun idea! There are so many fabrics that I absolutely love. Would have never thought of this. Thanks for linking up at Found & Foraged =)

  27. Absolutely lovely idea! So beautiful. Thank you very much for joining in the celebration of #purebloglove, we enjoy having you each week. I hope to see you on Thursday at 8PM, EST through Sunday night. ~Cydnee

  28. Ok….this is GENIUS!! I LOVE everything about this….you upcycling a cheap frame, finding a use for a great vintage find, and the embroidery (which is something I’ve been dying to try). I am so featuring you this week at our Merry Monday Link Party! Thank you so much for sharing….I loved your upcycled flower pot hostess gifts from last week, and I can’t wait to see what you’ll be sharing with us in the future!

    • Thank you so much, Christine!!! I really appreciate it! You should definitely give this a try- plenty of good YouTube videos showing you how to do the different embroidery stitches. 🙂 But be careful- it’s addictive!

  29. This is so amazingly creative! Every week I look forward to what you are going to create next! You are truly gifted! Thank you so much for sharing this on Making Memories Mondays! Hope to see you back Sun night 9PM EST! 🙂
    Cathy

  30. What an awesome idea – I’ve never seen this before. I love the look of vintage sheets too but never thought to embroider and then frame them. Beautiful!

  31. Your addition of embroidered flowers to the vintage sheets is beautiful! I would love for you to link up at the Stitch It, Blog It, Share It Link Party going on now at behindtheseamssewing.com.
    ~Bonnie

  32. What an amazing idea! I’ve changed how I now look at old bedsheets!!! Thanks so much for sharing on GrandmaIdeas.com Sharing Time link party! I really appreciate your participation.

  33. I love it…what a great idea. When I saw this I also thought that it would be cool if things like this were worked into quilts, course I don’t quilt so that leaves me out. LOL

  34. OHHH my goodness I LOVE this. I have a massive pile(s) of vintage sheets/cases and now know what I can do to the ones with a tear or aren’t perfect. Thank you!! Heather-Organicmomvintage (IG)

  35. Oh that is so cool. I am definitely pinning, It looks like great fun and it looks so pretty.

  36. I love that you added embroidery it really makes the “canvas” pop!

  37. Wow! These are beautiful! And such a great idea! I can’t wait to see what you come up with next. You keep surprising me! 🙂
    Thank you for sharing with Fiber Tuesdays!
    Susie
    http://www.ouicrochet.com

  38. chilebeanz says

    I bought a vintage sheet to make pajamas from, and love this idea for the shirt & maybe hems of pants.

  39. Such a cute idea Sarah! I love the way they turned out and the possibilities are endless! Thank you for sharing at Dream. Create. Inspire. Link!

  40. This is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing at Inspiration Thursday. Have a great week!

  41. So cute! I keep buying old pillowcases with patterns like your sheets here. I just keep hoarding them, lol so this gives me something cute to do with them. Thanks for the tutorial!

  42. Mary-The Boondocks Blog says

    What a smart way to decorate. I also love to needlepoint but I never find the time. This would be a perfect option.

  43. What a wonderful idea!!!! I know what I’m going to be doing this weekend!!

  44. I have a ‘similar but different’ half finished thing in the bottom of my sewing box somewhere. You have totally inspired me to dig it out and try to make it even half as lovely as yours!

  45. These embroidery projects turned out to be lovely wall art. When I was a little girl, I learned how to embroider, but I haven’t done it for ages. Thanks for the inspiration — I might try embroidery again.

  46. I love this!! Soo cute! Thanks for sharing at Dishing It & Digging It! 🙂

  47. I love all those vintage sheets too! And using the spray painted frames behind-genius! Now I will use all the wood frames I pick up for .50! Love how you took a vintage idea and made it fresh!

  48. The embroidery took this to another level of lovely! I got a $3.00 gingham sheet from the thrift store and used it for my tablescape. Felt like I’d won the lottery!

    • Sadie Seasongoods says

      Oh, I bet the gingham sheet looked marvelous! I feel like there are a million possibilities for vintage sheets!

  49. Excellent idea! This makes me want to pull out my embroidery thread and re-teach myself how to embroider. Visiting from Remodelaholic.

  50. You know I am all over this!!! LOVE And thanks for linking to #wastenotwednesday

  51. Love the embroidered vintage sheets made into art for the wall. Thanks for sharing.

  52. Featuring this tonight at the To Grandma’s House We Go link party. Thanks for sharing!

  53. Loved these: I honestly thought when I first saw it that you’d used puffy/fabric paint. That would be such a good Mother’s Day type project for kids! You really do know a LOT more that 3 embroidery stitches when you check out a book. A bouillon stitch is just a french knot with a lot more wraps laid on its side, etc. This would be a great travel project too using a small frame. My favorite thing to do with old sheets is STILL to make at least 4 pillowcases out of them, utilizing the top hem for the 2 “prettiest” ones–specially eyelet trimmed ones. I have been known to buy an extra sheet and make the pillowcases myself as we use 4 pillows. A while back I bought material covered with bright pink roses @ Joanne’s. SO sleeping on those with a cat lying on him is worth a picture!

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