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well i have to start by saying i am soooo stupid i bought the fabric for my julie fain haed pixie dreams and i made sure i had an extra 3 inch but silly as i am i didnt add 6 inches so each side could have a border of 3 inch (confused yet) i have started stitching it as you will see from my sal i am a good half way through the first page it has taken me all month so far!!!! what i need advice on is weather i should start again eeeek or leave it and continue even though the other side might have barely 3 squares left on edge when its finished so here are the options

do i leave it as it is and carry on with a huge border on one side and hardly anything on other
OR
start again and lose all that work and the money i spent on the fabric
if i leave it as it is does anyone know if it will fray when streached and cleaned to be framed ????
i feel so upset with myself such a waste of all that work

Oh no

I think there is a way that you can add fabric and stitch through two layers, but I'm not sure that you wouldn't notice it. Having said that, if you are sure about the size, you could maybe add fabric, machine stitched, onto the edge (which would have to be overlocked) as it would be hidden by a mount when framing. But it would have to be done very well so that it wouldn't pull when stretched.

I think if it was me, I would want start again, as I don't think I would be happy with such a small edge. The rest of the fabric could be used for something else.

I am really sorry but I have to say I think you should start again. It's a big heirloom piece and although you've put loads of work into it already, it's a small amount in comparison to the finished project. It would be awful if you spent months (or in my case years) on it to find much later that it was ruined through fraying at what I think will be a very small amount of border.

OMG, you poor thing. I did that just once and was WAY SHORT, but fortunately I adapted the design to fit. Never again.

Your project is a HAED isn't it? Is it fully stitched? If so you could add a strip onto the edge where you're short, and stitch over the join. You would see a raised edge though, and the project would need to be mounted up against the stitching so as not to see the join.

For these reasons, I would concur with the others and start again. I realise this is the worst news but it's a special piece and, over time, worth the effort to get it as perfect as possible, surely? Still a bummer though ...

Well honestly you have not gotten very far. Especially since it is only the first page and your only half way through it. Just take the loss and start over

Yup, I'd say start again. Is it a large design? If so, even if you cut out the piece you've already stitched, you'll have a piece big anough for another decent-sized project or several smaller ones. As HAEDs go, half of page one will be small enough that you can get away with doing that and still salvage the rest of the material, even of you don't feel like frogging the stitching you've already done. I feel your pain, I really do - I had a project on the go that was the cause of me giving up stitching for the best part of a decade after I'd done about 3/4s of it and realised I was about a dozen stitches short of fabric on the right-hand side. I was so disheartened I didn't stitch for years! I still have that piece somewhere - a stark reminder to me to measure accurately nowadays!

Oh, no! Horrors! I would start again, too, with lots of blue language. The lovely material will be useful for something else..

Such a pity, and so easily done, especially in the excitement of starting a new project.

How much fabric there'll be on the "short side"? I'm meaning is there enough fabric to do all the stitching? If it so, you could add some fabric by sewing machine after finished all stitches. When you're going to frame your work, you could add a passepartout or something like that so the added piece of fabric won't show.

But if there's not enough fabric to do all the stitches, I would start again. Count multiply times before you do anything

wow. i dont know i am ocd so i would have to probably start again.
is there enough fabric that if you did add fabric to the end it would be hidden during framing?
I know its an heriloom but sometimes that would make it more personal the fact that its not perfect. maybe even add a small note inside the frame explaining?

I'd have a very strong drink - and start again. It's a beautiful design and will be stunning when finished. If it was possible you could consider not stitching the last 5 or 10 stitches at the edge - but the design is so well centered it unfortunately may be a little obvious.

Don't think about the money being wasted on the fabric, as I'm sure you can use it for something else. The only thing wasted has been your time but I do think it's better to stop now - imagine working on it for many more months and then regretting it.

So sorry you're having this problem

I am sorry you are having a stitchers nightmare I have read the other posts here and I agree that it may be better to start again. I know I would always have it in the back of my mind that the more work I do on the original, the more stitching time I may have wasted if I couldn't rectify the error. it is a lovely project..I hope you will carry on with it one way or another.

ooooh dear.. I really like the idea of adding the extra fabric if you can...Once it's framed who will know And when your kids or grandkids come along with curiosity for needlearts (hopefully right ) You will have hidden proof that although your work isn't perfect it's still beautiful...But that would only apply if you have enough space to stitch comfortable and not worry about that side.. if it's going to eat you up with worry the whole time, then I would start over..
Faith

Sorry about your dilema. If I was in your position I would start again, because if I didn't it would keep bugging me, because I just wouldn't be sure that I counted correct anymore. It would be a shame to carry on and find that you didn't have enough material.

I have to say if it was me I'd start afresh, and use the remaining fabric for other projects - or, if you don't think you're likely to use the fabric (because of the count, for instance), put it up for trade or sale. I can't think of a way to add on an extra bit of fabric without risking it looking wrong, if you start again then yes you've lost a month but looking at the grand scheme of things it's only a few weeks, and you'll be assured of it looking right the next time around! It's such a lovely design, it'd be a real shame if it didn't end up perfect.

Oh no thats awful, poor you but I think I would possibly start again as it is such a large project, I think you will carry on worrying about it even if you could add some extra material on one side. Like the others have said the material doesn't have to be wasted, just used for something else. Good luck with whatever you decide

firstly a huge thank you to everyone for there advice i like mae mae's suggestion of making a note in the framing to explain what happened but like everyone has said its a huge project and thinking about it in the grand sceme of things i would be better off starting again i certainly wouldnt want to unpick nearly 5000 stitches on such a small count fabric i was tempted to leave the edge pages off totally and skip those 20 rows all the way along and if it been all black i may have considered it but it not so i wont
i am definately going to learn from this mistake and i think i will use the fabric to start one of the many QS HAED'S i have in my folder so it wont be wasted i was so upset at my mistake i didnt think of that at the time i counted that i would have a very measly 3 blocks/squares left after all the stitches so i think it would look pretty odd and i havent double checked if it would fit all way down yet well i wont be doing now i will get more fabric and put it down to experience terrible thing to do in my excitement to start a stunning project thanks again everyone

So sorry to hear this has happened but I think starting over is the best option for you and at least it's rather early on in the project. Nice to know you will be able to use the remainder of the fabric for one of your QS haed projects too. Hope you have fun stitching now!!

I agree, I would start over again, and I think starting afresh is the best option. I know its a shame after all that work, but at the finish I'm sure your going to be happy that you didn't 'cut corners'.

yup, sounds like you need to start over and the best way to do it is to cut to the chase and just snip off what you have done and get rid of it otherwise you will keep looking at it and sighing over it..it basically becomes like a relationship, it''s time to move on quickly to get over it. Then, you can start your new one without the old one staring you in the face mocking you....i speak from experience

Yes, probably best to start again, and better now rather than later on when you've put more work into it!

Really glad you'll be able to use the fabric for Quick Stitches though, you should be able to fit at least a couple of them onto the same piece of fabric!

I now count & mark every 20 stitches around the edges of all mine so I know how much fabric to leave and how much can be trimmed off so I'm not carrying extra around with the project. I did this on one of my larger projects and the extra at the bottom was enough to fit a Quick Stitch on, and there was me with it just rolled up!

Louise