Framing: Centering Made Easy

Finally had a chance to get in my sewing room and get some work done! This beautiful Blue Jay from Pigeon Coop Designs was the last project I completed for this year's Summer Birds and I've framed him at last! The frame is from The Rusty Roof. They have a nice selection of custom sizes and a good range of color choices. 

Framing your own needlework isn't hard and it saves a ton of money (my basic framing tutorial). The trickiest part is probably getting your piece centered properly, so I thought I'd share how I do it. As with a lot of other stuff I share here, this is probably not "the way you're supposed to do it" but it's the way I do it and it's easy and it works, so there's that. 

After cutting the foam core to the proper size, I use a ruler to draw two lines between the corners to find the center of the foam core.

I also measure and mark the center of each side.

Then I stick a pin through the center of the foam core.

Referring to the marked center of the design chart, I lay the finished piece on the padded foam core, with the pin sticking up through the center of the design. I now have the exact center of the design matched to the exact center of the foam core.

I then put one pin in the marked center of each side. If it looks good, I start pinning in the corners, working between opposite sides (ie. top right corner, then bottom left; top left corner, then bottom right), gently stretching and straightening as needed, pinning all the way around the piece, with pins about 1/4" apart. I start in the corners because it's easier to stretch the fabric in two directions (lengthwise and widthwise) simultaneously, and it's also easier to see if the horizontal and vertical fibers are exactly perpendicular, which they will be if the stretch is nice and even. If it's uneven, you can easily see the wiggle in the fibers at the corner.

So that's it! It takes some practice but it really isn't difficult at all and it saves so much money. 

Yay, Me!

 

Y'all, I did it! Last week when I was unsupervised I set out to frame 10 of my smaller finishes that I had frames for. I finished up on Saturday and am just now getting a chance to photograph and post. Kinda proud of myself for having finally gotten these finishes framed because some of them have been living in the finishes box for an embarrassing length of time. That being the case, some of them may no longer be available, but I'll identify them anyway in case you see something you want to hunt for.

First, my beautiful red boy, stitched from a kit. Scroll down a few posts for the link to the shop.

Fox Forest by The Workbasket

Liberty by Just Nan (charted as an angel, but I stitched her without the halo and wings), and Be Brave by Shepherd's Bush

Believe in Magic by Bluebird Needleworks, available from this Etsy shop. This is my blue-to-red color conversion, and my color choices are in this post. (The shop link in this old post no longer works, but the design is available at the shop link above.)

And a blue-to-green conversion of a very old Passione Ricamo freebie which is no longer available. You can see the original blue version in this post.

And there we have it! If you scroll through my last several posts you'll see all 10 of my framed finishes. I received my first custom frame from a new shop I'm trying out, and hopefully I'll be able to get that framing job done pretty soon and be off on my custom frame adventure. Also coming up: so. much. finishing. 

Stay tuned and Happy Stitching!

Unsupervised: Pie for Breakfast

 

It's just us girls this week as Mr. Wonderful is TDY and we are unsupervised! I got the house cleaned last week, and spent Monday in the kitchen getting my meals sorted, and now I'm ready to spend the week catching up on some framing. So far, I've managed to frame one 5 x 3 piece, so I'm not exactly off to a blazing start, but start I have. It always takes me a while to get going if I haven't done it in a long time, and hopefully I can make a dent in the finishes box this week.

This is Just Nan's Flowering Crown.

I have sooo much work to do.

And that's just the small pieces I have frames for. I have a frame stash that I've collected over the years. I always keep an eye out for sale/clearance frames, especially ones in non-standard sizes. Those are hard to find, but sometimes you do run across them.

I've got some larger pieces that will require custom frames, but I think I may have found a source for those. I can do the framing myself, which saves a huge amount of money, it's just a matter of gritting my teeth and spending the money on the frames. I know, I know. We deserve to have our needlework out where we can enjoy it, not living in a box or a drawer. I don't know why I don't have a problem buying hand dyed linen and threads for a project, but balk at a custom frame. Doesn't make any sense to stop on the last step of the process, but there it is. I guess I'm weird and need to change my thinking! Anyway, that's the framing. 

And then there's the finishing pile. Yikes. I'm three years behind on annual Christmas ornaments. And lots of other stuff. *sigh* Let's move on to food.

Chicken Spaghetti is one of my favorite comfort foods. I use Pioneer Woman's recipe, with just a few tweaks. The full recipe makes two 9 x 13 pans, if you need to take food to someone and also make supper for your own family. It's easy to halve the recipe if you don't need that much.

I also made myself some pie, because why wouldn't I? This is an old favorite I haven't made in years. My little recipe book calls it Chocolate Truffle Cream Pie, but this is the same recipe. I am a big fan of dark chocolate, but if you're not, I suppose you could make it with different chocolate. I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips. The only other ingredients are marshmallows, milk, and cream. It's lovely and smooth and chocolatey, and not overly sweet.

Will I be eating pie for breakfast at least once this week? Why, yes. Yes, I will.

Back in a few days with more framing. Leaving you with this:

Unauthorized access to my foam core

Do-It-Yourself Framing

If y'all have been with me a while, you know I'm a do-it-yourself kinda girl. I always try to encourage my fellow stitchers to learn to finish and frame their own work, mainly because the stories of beautiful needlework--unfinished or unframed--languishing in a drawer, never seeing the light of day, never being enjoyed, just makes me sad. To me, it's like painting a beautiful picture and then sticking it in the closet. 

There are lots of reasons stitchers have for not framing their work. Sometimes pieces are too large to do at home, or they're an odd shape that can't be accommodated by a standard store-bought frame. Sometimes they're just really, really special pieces and you want to splurge and have them professionally framed. My wedding sampler is like that. But the two most common reasons I see for not framing things are 1) professional framing is expensive (it is!), and 2) framing it yourself is hard (it's not!) and you have to have special tools (you don't!). I've got some framing to do over the next few days, and I'll be posting about my projects, so stick around and see how easy it is.

Here's what I did today. This is Mitten Games, by Crossed Wing Collection, stitched on their fabric Snow Squall. The frame was picked up on clearance, just like all the other frames I'll be showing.

Here's what you need, which you can get at any craft store with a framing department:
*frame
*foam core
*craft knife
*batting
*lotsa pins
*glazier points
*flat head screwdriver
*hammer

Disassemble your frame and use the glass as a template to cut out the foam core.

Cut out the foam core, cutting just inside the marked line, about 1/8". This is an allowance for the fabric and pins that will be along the edges of the foam core, so that it will fit nicely into the frame. It's only necessary to do this on two perpendicular sides.

Using the glass as a template, cut out the batting and stick it to the foam core with some double-sided tape. This gives your framed piece a little body, so that it doesn't look completely flat in the frame. If you like the flat look, just leave it off. Just a thought, though. If you have any knots or oopsies on the back of your piece, the cushion of the batting will help keep the bumps from showing on the front.

Here you can see how the foam core fits into the frame, leaving just enough space around the edges to accommodate the fabric and pins. And those are glazier points, in case you're not familiar with them. More on them in a bit.

Position your piece on the padded foam core and give it a test run in the frame, making adjustments as necessary. Ordinarily I would center the design, but for this one I wanted as much of the snowy fabric to show as possible, so the design is lower in the frame. For my tip on using a light box to position needlework, click here.

Pin the piece to the foam core (leaving the pins sticking out a bit), making sure it's straight and centered. This is the most fiddly part of finishing and framing, but the more you do it, the better you'll get at it. You will have to unpin, reposition, repin, etc. It's not a fast process, so just be patient, breathe, and take the time to get it right. I can't speak about Aida because I don't stitch on it, but linen is very forgiving during the pinning process. You have a built-in grid in the horizontal and vertical threads, and you can easily see when an area is "off". It also lends itself to very slight adjustments. A tiny pull on one side can straighten an entire section of fabric. 

When you think you have it like you want it, see how it looks in the frame. If it's good to go, push in the pins. 

If there's any excess fabric, trim it off and put on the back of the frame. Unless you have a pretty deep frame, the back will not fit into the inside groove of the frame all the way around. That's where glazier points come in. Wherever you need them, hammer them in. If you don't know how to use glazier points, here's a quick lesson on Youtube.

And that's it!

More on the way!

Raiding the Finish Box

I've been digging in my finish box again! You know, that box (or drawer) where all your unfinished finishes live. I'm supposed to be having a finishing day once a month, but naturally I've missed the last couple of months. But I'm back on track... at least for this month. 

I finished a couple of smalls but I can only show one. The other I can't show until Tuesday, so come back and check... it'll make you smile! This one is a little design called Bird Bath by Hinzeit. I used one of my favorite techniques for trimming it. I use two colors of 1/4" wide picot ribbon and simply pin and twist all the way around. It's quick, allows you to bring out a couple of colors in the design, and looks fancy but is easy to do. 



 

I also did some framing. This first piece has been framed for a while but I hadn't photographed it. It's an out of print design from Redbird Designs called Texas Home. The chart was graciously loaned to me by Sandi in Texas. The frame is Mill Hill.

 

Here's another Redbird Designs piece you'll recognize from my blog header. It's called A Texas Garden and it also is out of print. The designer has resumed designing after a lengthy break, but as far as I know, she isn't planning to re-issue her old designs. The frame is one of my do-it-yourself projects. I bought the frame at A.C. Moore and the star applique at Hobby Lobby. I used white paint mixed with a staining medium to create a whitewash effect.



 



 

And that's what I did today! I'm making a pretty good dent in my finish box, especially when I don't count the 12 (of 14) Button Up Birdies I have stitched or the 4 (of 7) Woodland Babies I have stitched. They don't count because I haven't decided yet how I want to finish them. That's my story, anyway.

 

Happy Finishing!

Adventures in Framing

Since I mostly stitch smalls, framing isn't much of an issue. But occasionally I stitch a larger piece that is more suited to framing, and then the fun starts. Professional framing is, for me, just too expensive. Next option, buy a ready made frame and put it together myself. As every stitcher knows, you're lucky if the piece you want to frame is a standard size. Most designs are odd sizes and ready made frames are not to be had, or are expensive if you do find them. (I recently found a 7 x 7 frame that was perfect, but it was nearly $50. No thank you.) I know all this, but I start the search anyway for something that will work. And search. And search. Search. Have a cookie. Search some more. Give up.

I finally decided to just make the frames myself. I say "make" but what I really mean is start with an unfinished wood frame and go from there. I discovered to my great joy that A.C. Moore has a very nice selection of unfinished wood frames in odd sizes. I also discovered an online source for custom-sized unfinished wood frames, but since I have not ordered from them yet I don't want to endorse them here. Suffice it to say, wood frames in any size are readily available online (if you don't have an A.C. Moore). At Hobby Lobby I found a bunch of different wood appliques to dress up my plain wood frames. Bought a little bottle of paint and a few other supplies, and I was off and running on my first "from scratch" framing project.

I did experiment with a staining medium (added to acrylic paint to turn it into a stain) and it looked fine, but I decided I wanted a rich, dark color so I just went with plain paint. Here are my supplies... less than $25.

Here's the original. As you can see in the final picture, I took my usual liberties with the design, but I did love the color of the frame and wanted to duplicate it as best I could. The design is He is Risen by Little House Needleworks, found in the March/April 2010 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

And here's my "from scratch" frame and my version of the design. The paint color is Black Plum.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now that I know what I'm doing, and where to get my supplies, I will be unstoppable. Until it's time to do housework.

Happy Framing!