How to Make Party Backdrops
Backdrops can change your home or party location into a whole new place. Where once there was a modern entertainment center or a view into a kitchen, there can now be a castle wall or a garden scene. Buying backdrops can be expensive and may limit your options, but making your own backdrops is not too difficult and will allow you to design any look you want for your party.
Things You'll Need
- Light cotton fabric
- Thread
- Sewing machine
- Light weights
- Fabric paint
- Paint brushes
- Foam stamps
- Large cup hooks
- Wooden dowels
Instructions
-
-
1
Make your panels. Find the length of the backdrop you want (for example, the measurement from the floor to the ceiling), and add about five inches. Then cut the cotton fabric to this length. When choosing fabric, white or neutral-colored muslin works perfectly. Hem the sides of the panel if the sides are not finished, or they could be susceptible to fraying. At the top of the panel, press over about 1 and 1/8 inches. Fold the rough edge under 1/8 inch, and stitch to the whole width of the main body of the panel. Aim to have a 1-inch hem at the top, with a pocket where a dowel can be inserted. Sew a wide 4-inch hem at the bottom of the panel. This will add stability and help the backdrop panel drape correctly. If desired, set a few light weights into the bottom hem to help the panel hang correctly. Plastic weights work better than magnets or metal weights.
-
2
Press the panel well so that there are not any wrinkles or creases in the fabric. Find a large work space to lay out the backdrop fabric. The entire panel does not need to fit on the work surface at once, but you want as large an area as possible. Plan out your design. If it is complicated, like a scene or a more detailed hand-painted pattern, you may want to lightly draw it onto the panel with a pencil to give yourself a template to follow as you paint.
-
-
3
Paint the panel. Get everything you might need ready before you start: paint, brushes, water, a cloth to clean and dry the brushes with, stamps, and any other items specific to your backdrop. You can hand paint as simple or elaborate a design as you want. Another option is to stamp a design onto the fabric using foam stamps. If your work area is not large enough for the entire panel to lay flat at once, make sure that the area you have already done is completely dry before you move the panel to work on another section.
-
4
Hang your panels in their desired location for your party. Screw the cup hooks into the ceiling so that they will be just slightly farther apart than the panel is wide. Insert one end of the dowel into one of the cup hooks, making sure that the painted side of the panel is facing the correct way. Insert the dowel through the length of the panel and into the other cup hook. Set the dowel so about the same amount sticks out beyond each cup hook. Arrange the panel so it is not bunched up anywhere on the dowel.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If you want to wash the fabric, do so before making the panels, as cotton shrinks. It's a good idea to test hang all backdrop panels well before the party so that if any problems are detected, there is time to fix them. Test the panels a week ahead of time and simply leave the hooks in the ceiling for the party. Weights can be added after the panels are made if you discover a need for them when testing the panel.
Fabric paint is made to resist washing off fabric, so wear old clothes while painting the panels.
