# Fabric Art with Arts & Craft Walnut Frame



## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

My girlfriend and I are headed out to Ontario to celebrate her parents 60th Wedding Anniversary. For a gift Laurie did what is called Fabric Art. For those unfamiliar with this art form it is essentially entails layering fabric onto a canvas with a lot stitching. 

Laurie asked me to make a frame for her and I thought I would share with you how I built the picture frame. The frame was made using 4/4 Walnut and half lap joints were used. The rails (horizontal pieces) were 1/8" thicker than the stiles (vertical pieces). This gave a nice shadow line which I thought looked good.

To make the lap joints I used my Super Sled and made use of two stops. For accuracy I cut all the shoulders for the stiles first. Once the shoulder cut was made I then went to the bandsaw to cut the scrap off. I made this cut a 1/32" proud and then went back to the tablesaw and slid the piece over the blade to smooth the cut. 

Once the stiles were cut I then started on the rails and cut the first shoulder and lined the piece up with the stile and made a mark. I then made a few test cuts till it was dialed in with a snug fit. Made a series of cuts and then repeated the same process for smoothing the face off by sliding back and forth over the blade. A shoulder plane tuned up the rest of the face.

Once all the joints were complete I went over the frame with a orbital sander at 180 grit and then a palm sander at 220 grit. The outside edges were chamfered using a bit installed in the router table. 

Now here is when the project took a turn. Apparently I had allowed for too much to be taken off the sides of the picture frame so Laurie asked if I could enlarge the opening by 1". I certainly did not want to make another frame so I thought why not use a rabbeting bit. By changing the bearing I was able to take off 1/4" all the way around. I continued making this cut by raising the router bit height till I had just 1/8" leftover. At this point I switched out the router bit for a flush trim bit to finish the lst cut. I had to repeat this process one more time to give me the larger 1" opening. Once the opening was enlarged I then switched back to the rabbeting bit to make the recess for the frame to sit in. 

With the opening done all that was left to do was square off the rounded corners to allow the frame to sit inside the recess I had created. To do this I used a knife and chisel to establish a shoulder and slowly took it down to the recess. It was nice to work with hand tools and get up close and personal with this project.

I will finish the frame with Tung Oil.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Dan,very nice job on the frame (but you can tell Laurie that I am really impressed with the fabric art do not think I ever seen it done)


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Thanks John I will tell her. She is a very talented lady, we make a great team!


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Nearly anyone can throw a couple of boards together and call it a frame.. as such, same can be said for needle and thread and call it art...

Ahhhhh but when done well.. they become something special. A gift to be treasured and enjoyed for many years to come...a fine collaboration indeed!!

Nicely done Dan & Laurie


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

A great project! And, since it is the product of the talents of both of you, it will be a treasured gift. As they say, that makes it priceless.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Nice job , both of ya's !


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

The sky where it looks like a sort of sunset with the pinkish hue .Was that painted or is it all stitching?


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

I had to ask Laurie what she did and here is the answer I received.

Rather than try to find fabric with the color she wanted she went out and bought some dye to achieve what you see. She is very creative and can adapt, improvise and overcome very well! So essentially she mixed and matched till she got the color she wanted and then dyed the fabric.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Great job and photo shoot Dan.

Great work from the 'special other', also....


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

Wow Dan... Impressive frame for an equally impressive piece of art! Love it!


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## BCK (Feb 23, 2014)

sweet...thx for sharing


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Dan and Laurie that looks most impressive. Thanks for showing us.


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## Billy Boy (Mar 4, 2012)

Great work Dan. Have a good trip to Ontario. Bill Major


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

OutoftheWoodwork said:


> Wow Dan... Impressive frame for an equally impressive piece of art! Love it!


I think Barb has found yet another hobby lol


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## Roy Drake (Feb 10, 2014)

Beautifully done - both of you.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

A big thank you to everyone who has commented. Laurie couldn't be happier on how this has turned out. Well believe it or not she is still working on it. She will pick it up and look at it and ask me hey Dan what do you think if I add this or that. 

What can I say she always leaves me in stitches!:jester:


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