{Trick or Treat Photo Hanger}

I love to look at pics of my kiddo in all of her Halloween costumes over the years, and even better yet, to compare them and watch her grow from year-to-year. I decided to make a place to showcase a trick-or-treat photo from each year so we could do just that...watch her grow, all in one place. I came up with this wall hanging, and I love how it turned out!

I decided to go with 12 picture pockets total, still leaving me with 5 years of photos left. (She's 7, so if we're still dressing up by then, I can make a second one!) If you have multiple kiddos, you could take a group pic each year and showcase them that way.

This really wasn't a hard project at all, so new sewers I think will be just fine with it! I'm new to tutorials, so if you have questions or I'm not clear, don't hesitate to shoot me an email and I'll do the best I can to help you out! This fits nicely on a narrow closet door, so you could surely widen it if you wish with no problem. Each picture pocket is 5 x 7, so old photos (regardless of direction) fit nicely.

Total fabric you will need:
1/2yd front facing fabric, 1/2 yd backside fabric, 1/2yd black felt, & 1/2 yd (8 gauge) vinyl

Cut your pieces to:

(1) front facing fabric, 38" x 18.5" 

(1) backside fabric, 38" x 18.5"

(12) vinyl sheets, 5" x 7" (I used 8 gauge)

(12) black felt, 5.5" x 7.5"

fusible fleece, ~ 37" x 17.5" (or something close to that...you want to leave a border of fabric around your fleece to make sewing easier)

long strip of homemade bias tape to use as your hanger OR ribbon

fabric adhesive spray

skinny dowel rod

thread, sewing machine, scissors, etc.

1. First cut all of your pieces.

 2. First you will sew your vinyl pieces onto each rectangle of black felt to make the photo pockets. Don't be afraid of the vinyl, but I do have to tell you...I tried multiple ways to keep that stuff from sliding and couldn't do it. I resorted to investing in a can of fabric spray adhesive and it was a piece of cake to use. It works great! So I recommend it highly (unless of course you know some wonderful trick that I don't!) 

So...spray the edges of each piece of black felt (one at a time) on three sides, then align your vinyl piece to each one and press down. It's a miracle I tell you! :)

 I put a scrap piece of 12x12 paper underneath to keep things clean.

   3. Once you have all of your photo pockets adhered with the spray, simply stitch along 3 sides to seal them up completely. The vinyl is noooo problem to sew on, so don't be afraid of it. The spray is made for this, so you won't gum up your needle.

 4. Now you have all of your photo pockets made, so set them aside. Next iron your fusible fleece to your backside fabric. You want to cut it so there's a border of fabric all the way around. Believe me, this makes sewing much easier and also looks much better, too.

5. Set that aside. Now take your front fabric and line up your photo pockets how you want them. I did 6 along each side. Pin them in place, then stitch all the way around each one. You really have 3 options here: a)You can use Liquid Stitch to adhere the pockets on permanently (that stuff is phenomenal and really works like it has been sewn on); b) you can use the spray adhesive again to hold the pockets in place for sewing, or c)you can pin them on and sew.  It's up to you...all those choices work well. Pinning them is a bit cumbersome just from lining things up repeatedly. 

TIP: Make sure each pocket is facing the right direction for you to insert a photo!!

 6. You're almost done! Now pin the front fabric and back fabric, RIGHT SIDES together on 3 sides. Sew along 3 sides with a 1/4" seam allowance, clip the corners, then turn right side out.

7. Now fold under the opening and topstitch it, along with a topstitch all the way around. This is an optional step, but I think it looks much more finished this way! You can see the top stitching in the next photo.

8. Now fold under the top about 1/2" to 3/4" to make the dowel rod pocket, and just sew it down right along your topstitch. Again, make sure you're folding under the TOP, for your photo pockets to be in the right direction.

 9. Turn it over, insert your dowel rod, and add whatever you choose to hang it with! :)

I made a bias tape "ribbon" with leftover black fabric, but you could also use wide grosgrain ribbon that would look great. I just didn't happen to have any on hand. If you need info on making your own bias tape, it's SUPER simple and you can find a tutorial over at Made.

Or you can use a length of wide ribbon for the same effect!

And Voila! There you have it!

 All ready for this year's photo!

Another thought I had would be to use vinyl stickers to put the year in the corner of each photo pocket. I decided against it for this one, but I think that would be cute as well.

Good luck making one of your own, and please email me with questions or if you note something I've inadvertently left out.

Take care,

 

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