Name Sign

It seems silly to call this a Project of the Week...

more accurately, it should be called the Project of 8 Months!

I dreamed up the idea of a name sign for our baby before he/she was born... 8 months ago. And overtime I developed the idea. After we finished and hung the curtains in his bedroom (he was 3 weeks old) I decided to incorporate all of the fabrics I used in his room into one wall sign. So, I pulled the red curtain fabric, green bulletin board fabric, yellow fabric like his crib bumper and burlap like his light shade. Since I still needed one other color, I choose a solid jersey blue fabric that I had on hand.

Although this sign took me months to bring to fruition, each step
was surprising fast and easy to complete.

Stage 1
First, I choose a font for the letters and printed his name out on computer paper.
Each letter took one piece of paper. Next, I ironed interfacing onto the back of
each fabric swatch, then pinned on the cut out letter,
and finally cut the fabric out around the paper letter.Next, using wonder-under and a measuring tape to space the letters,
I ironed the letters onto a large piece of cream linen fabric.

Then, I appliqued the letters. I used this tutorial from Sew Like My Mom to help plan my approach. I selected thread that coordinated with each fabric individually and, most importantly, I worked SLOWLY and turned my machine speed to its lowest level.
I considered adding a rickrack border but decided I did not want to fancy up his sign. For a daughter, I would definitely have added a border and some handmade fabric flowers :)

All of the above steps were completed in 4 hours during two different nap times. Easy Peasy. The delay came when I went to buy a frame... none matched the dimensions that I needed and a custom frame, even without anything fancy molding or a sheet of glass was over a hundred dollars. No Thank You!

Stage 2
So, I relied on my hubs to build a frame. Again, building the frame was completed in an afternoon, but the task sat on a long house projects to do list. All this to say, if you are wanting to make a sign-it's a fast and easy project once you get started!

Stage 3
After hubs glued and nailed the frame together, I delayed before sanding and painting the frame... Why? It's crazy, but I had never sanded anything or used spray paint. In my defense, sanding something seems so permanent and spray paint seems like it could run or drip. After looking up some projects other people posted on blogs about both I decided to run with it. I made a trip to Lowes and looked like a novice when I asked for the exact opposite type of sandpaper as I needed. SOOO luckily for me, the guy knew my mistake and convinced me to go with a different option! I may be crafty, but D is the one with all the home improvement skills!
Anyhow, it was SOOOOOOO easy to sand and paint the frame. And, I loved that I figured it all out; I am trying to pick up on some of my man's mad skills ; )

Back to the frame...

Stage 4
After letting the paint dry, I bought a sheet of foam board and using an exacto craft knife I cut it to a size larger than the opening of the frame, but smaller than the outside border of the frame. Next, I centered G's name onto the foam board.
Then, I used tape to piece the fabric into place.I laid the frame onto the linen to measure and center it.
Then, I carefully picked up the frame and board and flipped them over.
Using a staple gun I stapled the left side and bottom down, removing tape as I went.
Before nailing the right side and top down I flipped the frame back over and pulled puddling fabric back into place.
I trimmed away any excess fabric and the back side was finished. It is finished and I really like it!


4-21-12 Update:
After finishing this project I went back and referred to the original inspiration for this (found here) and while I did not read thru their steps before making my own sign I noticed that they used a spray adhesive between the fabric and matting.  Since I wanted to ensure G's sign did not sag in the future, I decided to take apart my sign and do the same. (I did not know spray adhesives even existed so it was a fun little experiment for me.) I highly recommend using a spray adhesive if you try out a project similar to these.