How to make a brooch frame

Continuing my jewellery display and storage week, here's an idea for both storing and displaying your brooches.

This idea is actually my mum's, and she made one for all the polymer clay brooches I made back in the 1980s. It was displayed just inside our front door, so it was easy to choose a brooch to wear when going out the door! A few years ago she made a couple more - one to display her collection of vintage jewellery by a Scottish company called Ceard, and one for me.

I decided that mine was due for a little makeover with new fabric, so now I can show you how to make one of your own.

This is what mine looked like before, with black fabric and a pine frame. It looked good, but I wanted a little change.

1. Discard the glass from your frame, but keep the frame and backing. I stained the frame with a couple of coats of brushing wax, to make it similar to some of the other wood in my hall.

 2. Cut something to use as a backing, the same size as the backing of the frame. My mum had used thin plastic, but you could use mountboard or cardboard - check it will be thin enough before sewing it all up, though!

3. Add a layer of wadding (you can glue this in place on the backing to stop it slipping).

4. Cut a piece of fabric that will cover the wadding and fold round the back of the backing.

5. Sew it in place with long stitches, making sure the fabric is taut. It doesn't need to be neat!

6. Put the frame back together, and have fun decorating it with all your brooches!

I think the new colours of the frame go well in my hall -  the grey is a more subtle colour than the black and looks better against the cream walls, and the wood of the frame matches the other wood perfectly.