I've always wanted to make a chevron background for my button art, but quite frankly it intimidates me. Plus, the added time of making the grid, then erasing the lines, or using oodles of tape every time makes me frustrated just thinking about it. But one night, not too long ago, I decided to tackle it. I came up with a solution to help me save time and I hope that it can save you time as well. Since I use the same size canvas, I figured I could just make a template to follow, saving me time! This template will be best used for those that will be using it more than once. It's definitely great for one time uses, but won't necessarily save you time. :)
I completely forgot to take a picture of the original grid, but basically you take any cardboard you have lying around and measure out the size of the area you are covering. I am using a 9x12 canvas so I drew a 9x12 rectangle on the cardboard. Then I decided how far apart I wanted my "peaks" to be and how far apart I wanted each zig zag to be. You might have to use a little bit of math to figure it out. I got lucky with 9 and 12 both being divisible(never thought I would ever use that word again) by 3 and made each peak to be about 3" apart, making the whole process look even. Then each zig zag was about 1.5" apart. Basically, each square was 1.5" by 1.5". So once you have figured out all that mess, you make your grid. Drawing all your lines horizontal and then vertical. Then, you add your diagonal lines. You can see the basis of the grid below.
Now here's the fun part! As you can see in the picture above, I also added in a few lines on the part of the zig zag that I was not going to need. I wanted my template to stay in tact as one piece. Now you can start cutting out the parts you don't need. On the inside pieces, it's easier to use an exacto knife instead of a pair of scissors. The more cardboard you begin losing, the flimsier it gets and you want it to keep it's strength.
Below is the finished product! It probably took me about an hour to make but it's so worth it! All I did was line it up on my canvas and traced the lines! Bam it's done! Just add paint!
Here's the finished product! And next time it will be super duper easy to add my chevron to any canvas!
I hope this tutorial helped you make your chevron projects a little easier! Please let me know if you found ways to improve your template! As always, share with us on our Facebook Page all that you have created!
Happy Chevroning! Shellie
