How To Make A Chevron Pattern For DIY Projects

Have you ever tried to draw or paint a chevron pattern and become totally frustrated with getting the angles and lines just right?  Well, today that ends as I show you an easy way to create the chevron pattern.

Chevron patterns will always be a favorite of mine. It is the classic inverted V shaped pattern that is popular in crafts, pillows, and even backsplashes.  The chevron pattern is very popular for decorations for the holidays.

 After a few trials and errors, I finally found an easy way to create a simple grid to make a perfectly spaced and aligned chevron pattern.

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When we moved into our current home, our daughter’s room had these custom built, and very deep shelves, in one corner beside the window seat. The shelves were built floor to ceiling and were just too deep for her to use.  Imagine seven custom shelves that she could have crawled into and slept on they were so wide and deep.  

So we removed them, but I certainly didn’t throw them away.  For years they have been in a basement closet while I figured out how to reuse and recycle them.

These old shelf boards are great for craft projects.

My husband cut one down for me to use as a backdrop for my fall display.  The shelf board is covered in wood veneer and measured 19″ wide by 27″ long.

The first thing I did was to apply several coats of chalk paint in a cream color. I knew with a veneer surface on the board that chalk paint would work the best.

How to create a Chevron Pattern for DIY Projects

Once the paint was dry, I drew a block grid on the surface with a pencil to create the chevron pattern.  Chalk paint not only allows you to write on the surface, but the pencil marks can be erased afterwards.

For my pattern, I decided to draw the grid with 4 equal sections on the short side, and 6 equal sections on the long side of the board.  The number of blocks you create for the grid depends on how many V-shapes you want in your project. This is easy to do with a yard stick or straight edge.

First you measure the project you want to design a chevron for and calculate a grid pattern based on equal sizes of squares.  Then you start creating the grid with a pencil.

Note:  I apologize for the quality of the photos.  It is very hard sometime to take clear pictures of pencil drawings on a light colored surface.  Hopefully you understand the directions anyway.

After creating the block grid in pencil, I started the chevron pattern by drawing a diagonal line from one corner to the next in the first block of the grid.

Then I drew a second line in the next block of the grid in the opposite direction, and continued this pattern across the top row of blocks. (You can draw the pattern either vertical or horizontal).

For the next few rows of blocks, copy the same pattern as the first row until you have completed the entire grid.

Since the grid lines and blocks were drawn with a pencil, you can easily erase the lines around the new chevron pattern.  A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works wonders as well.

Now you can easily paint or decorate the chevron pattern you just created.

Mine is shown here in orange and white that I used as a backdrop for a Autumn display outside my side entrance.

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Easy DIY Way To Create A Chevron Pattern

Easily create a custom chevron pattern for your craft projects and home decor.

Prep Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr

Yield: 1 project

Author: Donna

Cost: 10

Equipment

• Ruler
• Pencil
• Painter's Tape
• Acrylic paint or markers

Materials

• Pencil
• Ruler
• Eraser as needed
• Surface to create chevron sign such as wood board or canvas cloth.
• Desired paint color or chalk

Instructions

• Prepare the surface of the material you will be using to create the sign or project with a chevron pattern. This includes primer, chalk paint, or washing the fabric.
• Measure the material you plan to use to calculate a grid pattern based on equal size of squares across the surface.
• Use the ruler and a pencil to draw in the block grid across the surface.
• Starting at the top block in the grid, use the ruler and the pencil to draw in a diagonal line from the top corner of the block to the lower opposite corner to create half of the V-shape.
• In the second block next to the first one, draw a line with the ruler and pencil in the opposite direction.
• Repeat this pattern across all blocks in that row.
• Move down to the next row of block and repeat the same pattern. Continue these steps until all of the blocks are filled.
• Once the chevron pattern has been established in the blocks, erase any pencil lines that are no longer needed for the grid blocks.
• Now the chevron pattern can be filled in with paint or markers in your choice of colors.

Notes

This method can be used to create an easy chevron pattern on most surfaces.  The grid can also be created using painter's tape if a pencil is not ideal for the project.

Other Autumn themed posts you may enjoy:

“In Him we live and move and exist”  Acts 17:28