The trouble with jumping on the hexy EPP bandwagon is that you start seeing hexagons everywhere – the tile on bathroom floors, road signs, honeycombs, and most recently… a picture of a clock in the new Ikea catalog.

(Smycke Wall Clock, image from Ikea.com)

This clock! Oh man, it isn’t just a hexagon decorated wall clock. the hexagons are REMOVABLE, and can be re-arranged any way your little hexy-lovin’ heart desires. Of course, the colors were a little too “Lego” for my taste.

… but it was nothing a little fabric couldn’t fix. Fabric makes everything better.

In this case, fabric makes it way… way… better.

how to hack it

materials

Smycke Wall Clock

Phoomph Fabric Bonding Sheets (2-3 sheets), or some other double-sided adhesive sheets (I used the Phoomph sheets because they are designed to stick to fabric and the thickness of the Phoomph masks the color of the hexagon plastic.)

(2-3 sheets), or some other double-sided adhesive sheets (I used the Phoomph sheets because they are designed to stick to fabric and the thickness of the Phoomph masks the color of the hexagon plastic.) fabric – (The fabric line used in this project is LillyBelle by Bari J.)

– (The fabric line used in this project is LillyBelle by Bari J.) art knife and cutting mat

Step 1: Attach fabric to the loose hexagons

To attach fabric to a loose hexagon, cut out a square(ish) of Phoomph just a bit larger than the hexagon (Figure A). Remove the paper backing on one side to reveal the adhesive and stick it to the wrong side of the fabric (Figure B). Remove the second paper side and stick the hexagon smooth side onto the Phoomph (Figure C.) Use the art knife to trim off the extra Phoomph and fabric (Figure D and E). Repeat to cover all 28 loose hexagons.

This method results in nice clean edges on each of the loose hexagons but it won’t work for the hexagons on the clock face.

Step 2: Attach fabric hexagons to clock face

To cover the six hexagons on the clock face, cut out hexagons from the Phoomph using a loose hexagon as a template (Figure F above). Stick a Phoomph hexagon to the wrong side of the fabric, trim down the fabric to match the shape of the Phoomph, and then the fabriced Phoomph onto a hexagon on the clock face.

Step 3: Attach all the pieces

Now all that remains is the fun task of arranging the fabric covered hexagons…

…and then attaching them to the clock face using the connectors from the Smycke clock kit.

It’s almost as fun as Legos…

…but much prettier.