The following technique is suitable for counted work on fabric like Aida, linen or another even-weave.
Before you start
In order to frame needlework, you really need to start thinking before you start stitching. Some kinds of cloth can be purchased cheaply, especially Aida, but try to buy nice fabric -- you'll be much happier in the end. Your fabric should be about 5 to 6 inches bigger, each way, than your finished design. So, if your finished design is 5" by 5", your fabric should be cut to 10" by 10" or 11" by 11". If you don't make this allowance, you could end up with not enough fabric to stretch with, especially if you plan on matting your piece.
While you are stitching, take care of your fabric. Make sure your hands are clean, and stay clean, while you are stitching (no chocolate bon bons). Try to avoid lotions. Never leave your piece in a hoop when you are not stitching. Keep your piece somewhere it can stay clean.
Cleaning your piece When you are finished with your piece, you can clean it carefully at home. Remember that manufacturers don't usually guarantee the color-fastness of their fibers. Proceed with caution if you fear colors might run. I have never pre-washed my floss before stitching, and have never had anything bleed, even though I wash all of my pieces before framing (except wools). Still, if you're afraid your colors may run, wash your floss ahead of time, keeping in mind some fibers (like Sampler Threads) may lose their bright, or unique color.
Run cool water into a clean sink, adding a little baby shampoo. Some use woolite or a gentle shampoo, or even soap flakes. It's up to you. Swish your entire piece around in the water, gently. You'll be amazed how much dirt comes out of there, even if it looked fairly clean to begin with. Drain the water, and rinse with cool water to remove any soap residue. Do not wring out your piece. Let it drip dry, or place it, flat, on a towel to dry, naturally.
When your piece is dry, place it between two clean dish towels and iron with a hot iron. Remember, if you've done brazillian embroidery, or ribbon embroidery, metallic threads or beads you won't want to iron those stitches -- they will flatten and/or melt. If you really need to press a piece with beads or metallics, I'd suggest placing the piece between two heavier towels before ironing. I use steam, but I probably shouldn't. Linen comes out much nicer with steam. Use your own discretion. Some dry cleaners will iron pieces for a nominal fee (usually a dollar or two). Many stitchers use dry cleaners to press their pieces.
To Stretch
Select a frame and matting ahead of time. You can ask your framer to cut a piece of acid-free foam core for you to fit the size of your frame, or you can find acid-free foam core at a local office or artist's supply shop.
One trick I use to hide stray threads behind my piece that might show through my fabric is to put a piece of colored mat board, the size of my foam core, between the foam core and my piece. Pick a dark color, and those threads will disappear. See stitcher's and framer's tips for more tips
. I use stainless steel straight pins, with flat heads, to stretch. Center your piece on your mat board, using your mat if you have one. Push one pin in the middle of each side of your foam core, through the fabric. Once you feel your piece is centered, work your way around your piece, from middle of each side to the edges, pushing pins into the core of your matboard (from the side as you look at your piece) about 1/2" apart. Pins can be removed if you need to adjust, loosen or tighten your piece.
Some prefer lacing, which, for me, takes longer and is more cumbersome. Basically, lacing is like lacing a shoe. Center your piece on the foam core, and, using a heavy thread or fishing line, lace across the back of your foam core, stretching your piece around, side-to-side, and top-to-bottom. If you'd like to lace a piece, use the pins method described above, and then lace the sides together. You can take the pins out, then, when you feel the fabric is properly tight and even. With lacing, you want to make sure your "laces" stay, so if your fabric is flimsy, or unravels easily, sew heavier strips of fabric onto the edges of your finished piece, and lace those strips.
Ask your framer to "close" (or finish) your piece for you. Or, you can buy a brad gun and a few other tools to close your own pieces at home See FAQs for more tips. Most framers only charge a few dollars for this part, so if you feel nervous, inept, or too busy, let them do this part for you.
If you stretch your own pieces, you'll know they've been taken care of properly. It's therapeutic, rewarding, and can save you a considerable amount of money.
NEVER...
Framing is expensive, but it's worth it. There is a lot of labor that goes into framing: frame assembly, mat cutting, glass cutting, other material preparation, the cost of incidentals (tape, glue, nails, hangers, bumpers etc.) If you can learn to stretch your own needlework, you can save money. Remember how much time you put into each piece, and pay accordingly.
And be friends with your framer. Some can give you scraps of foam core and mats, some can give you deals, some will be prepared to help you with a rush order, and all will be nicer people when you're picking out your materials.
Another way of stretching:
I have read through a few of your Questions and Answers regarding stretching of needlework and I have found a way which is much easier for me.
I take the measurements of the piece and then add on approximately 2 inches i.e.. 4 x 6 = 8 x 10. I then cut an acid free board to this size (or the frame size) and draw a pencil line around the edges of the board measuring 7 x 9. By either pinning or using stichery tape I attach the piece to the board to ensure that the corners are lined up correctly.
I then line up the grain of the fabric to this pencil line and run it through a normal sewing machine sewing through the board and the fabric. Once you have done the full square sew around the outer edge so that you have two rows of machine stitching - then there is no pulling and the fabric is attached firmly.
This works for me and my customers are happy with the end result as there are no pins etc. remaining in the frame. If they decide at a later stage, to reframe the work on a larger format then all that has to be done is to undo the machine stitching. -- Nikki
A tip from a framer...
"I use a product from Lineco, a company that specializes in archival quality products. It is a 100% pure linen tape with a vegetable based, water soluble adhesive, that is pH neutral at 6.5. I stretch and pin my fabric and then tape the edges of the fabric to the back of the foamcore. I advocate only catching a scant one quarter inch of the fabric anyway. The adhesive can be washed out completely if you take the tape off and wash the fabric as we normally do. I researched this and other tape products to find a good solution to the "no lacing" problem so I would have a good alternative I could recommend. Having unframed pieces I did over 10 years ago and finding no damage from the tape, it is a product I use with confidence. Another company also manufacturers a needlework tape for use in the same way. Unfortunately neither are available to the general public but some framing stores may use them and your customers should know they are acid free and acceptable. Also, the best pins to use in pinning are actual the brass pins. They are one step better than stainless steel." -- Sandy Schmauderer
A tip from a reader:
This method also helps ensure that your project is perfectly centered. Of course, use a foam board piece cut to your desired size. Take your project (after washing, ironing, etc.) and place on top of the foam board. Slightly stretch from side to side and place a straight pin on the fabric where it meets the edge of the foam board on both sides. Do this for the top and bottom also.
Now count the threads from the furthest point where you have stitches to the row you have placed the straight pin. Do this on both sides. Then add or subtract so you have an even amount on both sides. (i.e., if one side is 16 threads and one side is 12 threads, use 14 threads so the sides will be even). Do this for the top and bottom also. Remember to count from the stitch closest to the edge of the project. Mark this row with a pin.
Then take a contrasting thread, regular sewing thread works great, and weave it along the row you have marked, going slightly past the corners. When all four sides are done, you have a line to use when stretching on the foam board. Your project will be perfectly centered and the rows will be straight with no waves.
Starting at one of the corners, placed the colored thread along the edge of the foam board and place a pin, do this at the opposite corner also. Then place a pin every 1/4 to 1/2 inch along the entire side. Then do the exact opposite side. Repeat for the remaining 2 sides. Yes, this can be tedious, but is well worth the time when you are finished with a perfectly centered piece.
When pushing the pins into the foam board, try using a metal thimble. That will help save your fingers! - Judy Amarose
Questions from a reader: I wasn't very adept at it on the first try but I did manage to mount and frame a project stitched on linen. One problem I had that I'm hoping you can help me with is this. As recommended by the newsgroup, I do leave 4" on each side of my work. When I had folded and pinned all four sides of the picture I had 4 bulky corners where there is 3 layers of fabric. Do you cut these a bit or fold them diagonally or maybe stitch them?
I couldn't find stainless steel straight pins either. I ended up buying brass pins. Someone recommended covering them with clear nail polish. I did this but thought afterwards that maybe the chemicals in the polish could be bad for the fabric.
My answer:As to the bulky corners on the back of your piece, just fold them over and tuck them down. I wouldn't trim them at all in case you'd ever want to reframe the piece a little larger. This is hard to describe, but what I do is pull the corner of the fabric toward the middle of the back of your piece. Your fabric will have a nice fold in it, and you can stitch that fold together closed, or just press it down manually before you put a back on. Four inches is standard, but for smaller pieces (5 by 7 or 8 by 10 etc...) it is more than enough. You can adjust accordingly how much fabric you buy.
As to the pins, I'm surprised you couldn't find stainless steel ones -- I've found them everywhere from fabric shops to KMart and Shopko. Keep looking. Not sure what the brass ones will do, but I wouldn't go to all of the bother of coating each one with nail polish. You could always opt to try lacing -- instructions are now included on my stretching page, but basically you pin the piece in place like you've been doing, lace it, and then take the pins out.
I have been framing in my shop for 16 years and I do wash every piece of needlework that comes in to be framed. I use Dawn or Dial because it gets out the hand oil and most other stains. Never use Woolite because we have found out that in time it does some nasty things to the stitchery including fading more quickly and turning the fabric yellow.
Also, for our customers that want professional mounting and cannot afford the lacing fees, we have found an acid free tape. It holds very well and does not leave any residue on the fabric. We also sugget to our customers, if they are using a mat to allow at least 4 1/2 inches all around the design to allow for lacing on the sames size board as their frame and only 3 inches around the design for no matting. We have found most favorable results in this because you can get your fabric straight with the boards if you have something to work with. Of course, not everyone complies and for them we will "sandwich" a mounting board, which incurs a little extra charge or we will add fabric to the edges of their needlework so the fabric can be fastened to the back of the mounting board. --Lorri Van Weelden bltv25a@prodigy.com
Send me questions about framing or needlework. I can answer each individually. I'll post FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) with answers for everyone to see.
I manually calculate the positioning on my foamcore by counting the threads from the design edge to where the edge of the foamcore will be. Then I stitch sewing thread where the fabric will meet the edges of the foam core.
Finally, I line up the sewing thread with the edge of the foamcore and pin the fabric into place. If calculated correctly, the needlework is centred perfectly and square on the foam core the first time. If myÊcalculation isn't accurate, it's very easy to make the required minor adjustment. -- Diana L. Sheppard
© 2007 Theresa Venette. Articles on this site may be reproduced in needlework group newsletters or other handouts with permission of author and proper attribution. Send questions, comments and suggestions to: xspeddler@yahoo.com