Preparing an embroidery for framing – This method works for any embroidery that you want to stretch in preparation for framing.
You will need:
Finished embroidery
Iron
Soft towel
Craft knife or old rotary cutter saved for paper
Ruler
Strong thread for lacing
Masking tape
Take care and gently press your embroidery. I placed my embroidery face down on a soft towel and pressed gently on the back with a warm iron to press out the main creases.
Decide on the amount of edge you want to leave for your finished embroidery. I am going to have a mount around the picture so added a reasonable border. Remember, if you are using a ready-made standard sized frame to make the foam board the same size as the aperture of the frame leaving it just slightly smaller to allow for the bulk of the fabric.
Take your foam board and mark out the dimensions of the embroidery design plus the border you are leaving. I marked the cutting lines in pencil on my board.
Using your ruler and knife, or spare old rotary cutter to score and cut the foam board to size.
Place the embroidery over the foam board and centre it by measuring the border. I placed a pin at each corner of the embroidery design just to hold it in place.
Stretch and hold the edges of the fabric in place using pins placed into the edge of the foam board or large Wonder Clips to secure it all in place as you lace the back. Take a long piece of strong thread and secure in place. Working from the centre, take the thread from centre to edge and pulling taut as you go until you reach one side. Repeat for the other side. I then secured the lacing on the back with some masking tape to hold it in place.
Repeat for the other edges. As you reach the sides, you may want to mitre the fabric in the corners for a neat finish. Fold the fabric as shown.
Secure the mitred corners with some stitches as shown.
For other embroidery tutorials please click on the embroidery tag on our techniques page.
