|
I frame all of my embroidery pieces myself at a local-do-it-yourself
frame shop. Many cities have these shops and I highly
recommend using them. Framing this way is easy and less
expensive than having your piece framed entirely by
someone else, and this way you can get it perfectly
even and stretched to your preferences.
To start, you'll need to press your piece carefully
at home (press it face down into a piece of terry cloth
to avoid crushing the stitches), then roll it onto a
wrapping paper tube for transport. When you get to the
shop, you can look through their samples and select
a frame. Be sure to tell the store associate whether
you will be using glass on top of your embroidery or
not (I don't use it), because that will determine what
kind of frame you can choose. You'll also have to decide
what kind of margin you'd like between the frame and
the edges of the stitching. If you're using a pre-made
frame -- the Daisychain Alphabet Sampler was designed
to fit into a pre-made 11-inch x 14-inch frame -- you
will have about a 1-inch margin. If you are going with
a custom frame, you'll have to decide how much margin
you want.
Once you've selected your frame, the store associate
will measure and order it for you. Then she'll cut you
a piece of foam core to the exact measurements of the
inside of your frame. To stretch the embroidery around
this foam core you'll need a clear plastic ruler and
a whole lot of straight pins (which they should provide).
I'd bring coffee, too (don't spill it), 'cause this
is gonna take a while.
To begin stretching and pinning your embroidery around
the foam-core, begin centering it by just eyeballing
it, and placing a few pins -- don't push them in too
far yet -- around the edges. Then use your ruler to
help you get your letters parallel to the edges by making
small adjustments and pulling the fabric slightly against
your already-placed pins.
Place more pins, working your way around the piece.
It can be easier to work on opposite corners then to
go around in a clockwise manner. Keep pinning until
everything is straight, stretched to eliminate (most
-- some may be inevitable) wrinkles, and well centered.
Then push each pin all the way in. A thimble can help
here. Tape the raw edges of the fabric neatly to the
back.
When your frame is ready, the frame shop will call
you and let you know it's time to work on the next phase.
Bring your stretched embroidery back to the shop and
they'll supply you with tools to finish this part.
Place the embrodiery in the frame:
They'll give you a piece of board to go over the embroidery,
and a special nail gun that you'll use to shoot flat
"nails" into the inside edge of the frame
to hold your piece in place.
When you've gone all the way around all edges, use
the tape gun to place a ribbon of double-sided tape
along the back edges of the frame.
Brown paper is smoothed over the back of the frame.
Then use a sander to cut the edges of the excess paper.
This makes a nice smooth finish.
Next place your hanging hardware on each side of the
frame, about 1/3 of the way down from the top.
You're almost done! Now just run a piece of picture-hanging
wire through the two eyelets, and place little felt
tabs on top of the screws (so they don't scratch your
walls) and you're good to go.
Nice job! See, that wasn't so hard! :-)
|
