Cross Stitch Framing

[goldenlightdesigns]

Here's a very neat trick to make framing your masterpiece.

Add a piece of foam around 1/4 inch thick underneath your cross stitch. It must be cut around slightly smaller than the frame or the matting so it would pop-out. Trust me, this helps stretch the cross stitch makes for a better display.

[carolanne]

I have been able to buy mounting board with foam already sealed to it. It does give a nice look to the mounted piece.

[goldenlightdesigns]

^^^We don't have that stuff here. But it's good to know.

Now for matting. I know most of you have no idea what colors to use for matting your cross stitch. The standard rule is one should be dark and the other should be light colored. And the dark color shouldn't be darker than the darkest color in your cross stitch and the light color shouldn't be lighter than the lightest color in your cross stitch.

However, for me, I prefer something else. We use wallpapers instead of matboard. If you have left over wall papers or you can buy new for use later. The wall paper design should be at most vertical lines and be very simple.

So to start, go get 1/8" plywood. The thin one that you can cut with a blade cutter. Now cut 2 pieces of board of equal size. The size should be 6 inches plus the stretched design size of your cross stitch. So for example you are framing a 12 x 15 inch design. You cut the boards 18 x 21. The other board would serve as backing and the other board would serve as the base for your wall paper.

Now to make the wall paper matting, cut the a hole in the middle of the board equivalent to the design size. So you now have a plywood "frame" measuring 3 inches wides 18x 21 on the outside edge and 12x15 on the inside edge.

Next cut the wallpaper 3 inches wide going along the length. We usually cut entire rolls into 3 inch wide rolls. Then using double sided tape. Tape the wallpaper into the frame.You cut 2 pieces of 3"x21" wall paper and 2 pieces of 3"x18" wall paper. On the corners, cut the wallpaper diagonally so that both the vertical and horizontal wall paper meet. Make sure not to expose the plywood. Now you have wall paper frame.

Next, you put a flexible gold lining on the inner edge of the frame. Be careful again with the corners. For a more subtle and elegant look, gold lining is good. For some they prefer a double frame.

So what do you use for a double frame? Use a small frame of a similar finish to your outer frame. Then ask your supplier to cut and join the frames. The inner smaller one should be inverted. You can cut the frame yourself using a circular saw or a trimmer and join it yourself with vnails using a hammer or a joiner. Now insert the inverted smaller frame into the wallpapered plywood.

So whether you chose the the gold lining or the inverted frame, you are now ready to proceed to the next step. You put your cross stitch in the wallpapered plywood using a gluestick and a glue gun. Make sure you cover all edges to properly stretch the fabric. You may need to cut excess fabric. Once the glue is dry, you can now iron the cross stitch. You should iron it on the reverse side with towels underneath. Make sure it is really dry.

The next step is the glass. For those using the goldlining, I suggest the non-glare glass. This glass when pressed against the cross stitch wouldn't appear to be there. It's like there is no glass. It's also good for pictures. Ordinary clear glass is suggested for the double frame.

Put the glass in first in the frame. Make sure it is really clean and spotless. Next, you put in your plywood frame. And then add the foam I sugested above. You can stick it to the backing plywood. Then add the backing plywood.

Final Step is add flexipoints all around the frame. You can close the frame with paper tape or with wax paper. You can add screw eyes and cord for hooking.


Whew! That was a really long post.