Easy Sew DIY Kid’s Wall Hanging from a Fabric Remnant

This project was all about making a quick and easy kid’s wall hanging for my son’s room. Needless to say he loves buses – like most kids – so this was my inexpensive way of giving him some lovely bus art!

If you’ve read any of my other blog posts you might have guessed already that I don’t just make things out of my own fabric scraps and remnants, I also have a bit of a ‘problem’ about buying other people’s scraps, fabric remnants and offcuts.

This project is one where I actually knew what I would do with the fabric remnant before I even bought it (that is not always the case!).

I saw it on Ebay and basically the remnant was one big jaggedly cut panel of a big red bus.

Perfect for my youngest son’s room as a wall hanging I thought.

I also bought another larger remnant with a repeating pattern from the same seller that became a padded seat cushion for his toy box.

Here is how I made the wall hanging.

P.S. there is also a set of printable instructions at the end of the blog!

This post originally appeared on our sister site Scrap Fabric Love.

Materials Needed – DIY Kid’s Wall Hanging:

• Fabric Panel with illustration of your choice (I found mine on Ebay)
• Coordinating long piece of fabric the same width as your main panel and 7″ high (this is for the hanging loop at the top).
• Fusible Fleece or your choice of batting
• Backing Fabric the same size as your front panel (I used an old sheet)
• Stick or Dowel slightly wider than your fabric panel
• Twine or other string for hanging

Step 1: Square Up your Fabric Panel

The panel I bought had been cut out of something larger – not sure if it was a bed sheet or just a fabric with a really huge repeat but anyway the edges weren’t totally straight so I needed to square it up before I got started.

My panel ended up being 29″ x 17″ before it was sewn.

My final hanging ended up at 27″ x 20″ (including the hanging loop but not including the twine).

Step 2: Create the Hanging Loop

I used another fabric remnant I’d bought in a scrap bag that was long and thin and cut it down to 29″ wide (same as my fabric panel) and 7″ high.

Next I folded each of the short ends in twice (towards the wrong side).

So I folded it over 1/2″, pressed and then folded another 1/2″.

Then I sewed the folds in place.

This step is pretty much the same as if you were making a drawstring casing for a bag just a bit bigger.

Once my end folds were secure I folded the whole piece of fabric in half with wrong sides together and pressed.

Step 3: Fusible Fleece or Batting

I used double sided fusible fleece as the batting for my wall hanging.

I ironed the fleece to the back side of the front fabric panel and then after sewing I ironed it from the back to fuse the back fabric down.

(the photo above is just me cutting the fleece to size so ignore the fact that the fabric is right side down!)

You don’t need to use fusible fleece, any batting will do – even an old towel as long as it isn’t a darker colour than your front panel.

If you aren’t using a fusible you’ll need to baste your batting in place with pins or spray.

I got some strange puckering on the front of my panel which I think is from the fusible so I’m not sure I would use it again for something where you are staring straight at all the puckers on a white background!

Step 4: Sew It Up!

I placed my hanging loop along the top of my fabric panel with the raw edges meeting and then pinned the backing fabric down on top (right sides to right sides).

So the hanging loop is inside your fabric sandwich with the folded edge towards the middle (again just like sewing a drawstring casing into a bag).

I sewed all the way around the edge of my panel with a 1/4″ seam allowance and left myself a fairly big 9″ hole at the bottom for turning.

Step 5: Top Stitch & ‘Quilt’

After trimming the seams at the corners I turned my panel right sides out and used a chopstick to poke the corners and make sure they got turned out properly.

I flipped the raw edges from the turning hole in and pinned in place.

Then I ironed the panel from the back to secure the fusible fleece to the backing fabric paying special attention to the corners.

Finally I topstitched using a generous 1/8″ to finish the front and close the turning hole.

I also top stitched or ‘quilted’ an outline around the bus and inside the windows and doors just to finish it off.

You could go to town with quilting something like this or leave it as it is. A bit of an artistic choice depending on what the image on your panel is.

Step 6: Hanging

I used a long stick from my garden – about 2-4″ longer than my panel and fed it through the hanging loop. You could buy a dowel instead if you can’t find a stick the right length.

I then braided together 3 lengths of twine and made a loop at either end for the stick to rest in.

Then I just hung it on a nail on the wall.

DIY Kid’s Wall Hanging from a Fabric Remnant

Easy peasy and I think it looks pretty cool. And the bonus is that the whole project took less than an hour!

The only downside for me is my older son had a bit of a tantrum when he realised it was for his younger brother and not for him – “But I like buses!” were his exact words….so I might be shopping for some more bus fabric remnants in the near future!

If you want to save this idea for later, don’t forget to Pin it!

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Printable Instructions

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