Guides / Finishing
A piece fresh off the hoop has creases, the ring's mark and often a few fingerprints. A gentle wash and careful pressing take them all away.
A piece straight out of the hoop has creases, the ring's mark and often a few fingerprints. A gentle wash and a careful press remove them, and the stitches plump up a little on the way. The order never changes: check, wash, press, then mount. Allow half an hour of work, and let it dry completely before framing.
Take out the tacking threads and the tape on the edges. Check at the back that every thread is ended, as in the guide to starting and ending a thread, and trim any tails that stick out.
DMC stranded cotton has a reputation for being colourfast, and most stitchers wash it without trouble. But a very bright red such as 321 or 666, a thread from another brand or an old one can run. If in doubt, wet a stitched corner in that thread and dab it with a white tissue: if the tissue colours, wash in cold water, quickly, with a colour-catcher sheet in the bowl.
Tip. If a colour runs despite everything, whatever you do, do not let it dry: rinse in cold water, again and again, until the water stays clear. A colour that has run and then dried on the fabric hardly ever comes out.
Press while the piece is still damp: that is what removes creases and the hoop mark best.
Tip. The towel does everything: the stitches sink into it instead of being crushed, and keep their texture. Pressed face up straight on the board, a piece goes flat and shiny in places. If the hoop mark resists, a second, longer soak nearly always shifts it: new aida is sized, and the sizing comes out in the water.
For a frame, the piece has to be stretched over something rigid. Cut thin card, or a sheet of foam board, to the size of the frame's opening. Centre the piece on it and fold the margins to the back: this is where the 5 cm you allowed when cutting the fabric come in, as the guide to fabric and size explains. The fabric calculator adds them for you from the start.
Then fix the margins by lacing: a long, strong thread goes from one edge to the other across the back in a zigzag, first across the width and then the height, and you tighten it little by little until the fabric is perfectly straight. On foam board you can also push pins into the edge, about every centimetre.
If the frame has glass, put a mount between the piece and the glass: pressed against it, the stitches lose their texture. Many stitchers prefer to frame without glass anyway.
Simpler, and lovely for a small design: the piece stays in a wooden hoop, which becomes its frame.
Tip. A ribbon tied round the screw is all it takes to hang it.
A piece can also be sewn into a cushion, a pouch, a felt-backed bookmark, or slipped into an aperture card. For all of these, wash and press first, as above.
And once your piece is done, photograph it in daylight: you can show it in the finished pieces gallery, even if the chart came from elsewhere. For what comes next, choose a new chart in the gallery, or make one from one of your photos with the guide to turning a photo into a chart.