How To Frame An Embroidery Like A Pro?

It is very important to frame your embroidery piece once you have completed it so that it can be preserved and displayed correctly. Embroidery is a beautiful art form that can add elegance and personalization to any space. Besides adding a professional look to your embroidery piece, framing also prevents it from deteriorating over time due to dust, humidity, and other environmental factors.

Here are the steps involved in mounting and framing an embroidery piece, as well as the materials you need and how to select the right frame. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced embroidery artist, this guide will give you confidence and showcase your skills while framing your embroidery piece.

Key Takeaways

• There are a number of popular reasons to frame the embroidery to pick from! Choose any idea that suits your purpose.
• Gather the tools and follow the steps to frame them in the different ways mentioned below.
• Some tips to decorate the frame to enhance the interior look of your framed embroidery.

Why You Should Frame Your Embroidery?

Framing your embroidery is a great way to protect your work and showcase it in a professional and aesthetically pleasing way. Here are a few reasons why you should consider framing your embroidery:

• You can protect your embroidery by framing it to protect it from dust, moisture, and other environmental factors.
• The fabric and threads of the embroidery are less likely to be damaged when framed and cared for properly. This helps the embroidery last for generations.
• The delicate detail of the embroidery is made even more appealing with framed embroidery, which can be displayed on a shelf or hung on a wall. Framing makes embroidery even more attractive and effectively highlights its intricate details.
• Antiques or sentimental embroideries often seem more valuable when framed than when unframed.

3 Ideas to Frame Your Embroidery

Each idea has its own features that differ based on the purpose among such ideas here are the most unique yet common ones.

1.Hoop

As a framing option, this method has become extremely popular. It is accessible and easy to do, and if the fabric isn’t glued, you can easily remove the embroidery without damaging it again and again. Embroidery hoops tend to be very minimal, so the embroidered piece is not covered in a thick layer of something.

2.Art Canvas

Embroidered fabric can be mounted on canvas or stretched on a frame. As you would with upholstery, you staple or thumbtack the fabric to the wooden frame in the back, as if it were an upholstery piece. Using this method, you can stretch the fabric in the front as well as create a neat and secure back. The canvas has no borders around it, so it isn’t really a frame in and of itself. The canvas can be framed or left open if you don’t want one.

3.Photo Frame

The coolest option to frame your embroidery is to use a picture frame. There are two options that come along with the frame. They are glass and mat. Dust and dirt are well kept off your embroidery with the glass. It also squishes your embroidery stitches flat very well.  That’s why you shouldn’t use a picture frame with glass that doesn’t have enough space between these two layers if your embroidery piece has a lot of texture.

Another thing about a mat is that paper and fabric can sometimes collide, so a picture in a frame can look quite stylish. Occasionally, coarse and textured fabrics look weird when surrounded by smooth, flat paper mats. If you believe the mat does not add to your embroidery, you can leave it out! Hand embroidery frames and mats can be framed by incredible artisan frame and mat makers.

How to Frame Your Embroidery: 3 Methods

Make sure you gathered the tools before starting the process and carefully maintain the steps to get the best result out of this craft.

Tools and Materials

1.Using Foam Board

There’s nothing easier than this technique, it’s functional, and it won’t ruin your fabric if you decide to use it again in the future! You’ll need a white foam core sheet, which you can find at any craft or office store. You’ll need to cut it to the desired size from the large sheets.

• Step 1: Iron your embroidery and lay it out flat, face down.
• Step 2. Center the foam core piece over the embroidery.
• Step 3. Fold the top edge of the fabric down over the foam core and tape it to the back.
• Step 4. Fold the bottom edge up and tape it, and check to make sure the edges are even on the front.
• Step 5. Fold in the sides and tape them down, then fold the corners and tape them. Done!

2.Wooden Frame

A wooden canvas frame can also be used to stretch your embroidery fabric. If you buy canvas frame pieces in any length, you can fit them together at the corners to create a custom frame.

• Step 1. Build your wooden frame by fitting the pieces together. 
• Step 2. Cut a piece of white cardboard or poster board the same size as the wooden frame.
• Step 3. Place the ironed fabric face down, with the board centered over it, and the wooden frame on top.
• Step 4. Fold the fabric edges over the frame and staple them down to the back with one staple at the top, bottom, and both sides, making sure the embroidery is even on the front.
• Step 5. Continue pulling the fabric tightly over the back of the frame and stapling it down along each side, and then at the corners.

3.Hoop

There are plenty of cross-stitch patterns that look great displayed in hoops, so framing in a hoop is a simple, cheap, and effective way to show off your finished stitching. You can also decorate your hoops in many ways and really personalize them.

• Step 1: Check your fabric’s finish and iron it properly.
• Step 2: Lay your backing fabric flat, good side up
• Step 3: Draw around the outside of the embroidery hoop with a pencil after placing the larger ring on the reverse side of the backing fabric.
• Step 4: Following your pencil line cut out the fabric and place it on one side.
• Step 5: Prepare your stitched piece for embroidery by carefully washing and pressing it. Place your piece centrally in the embroidery hoop. Make sure the stitches are placed precisely for the longest time possible. Secure the hoop tightly.
• Step 6: Trim excess fabric around the outside of the hoop, leaving a fringe of about an inch or two. Place your stitching in the hoop and trim excess fabric.
• Step 7: Make sure the thread on your needle is long enough to go comfortably around your embroidery hoop two or three times.
• Step 8: Starting at the bottom of your hoop and leaving a trail of at least four inches, make a nice even running stitch about 1cm away from its edge, following its curve. Trim away any excess thread and run a stitch around the hoop all the way around it. Finish close to the first stitch on the hoop and leave another four-inch tail.
• Step 9: The fabric must gather tight behind the hoop when you hold the hoop firmly in one hand and pull the two tail threads down with the other. Gather the fabric with your threads and secure them with your knots. Remove the outer ring from the hoop and thread your needle with strong thread or embroidery thread. You can tie a knot at the end before starting to secure your thread. 

How to Set Your Embroidery in a Hoop?

Even though framing with a hoop is easy but you must set the piece of cloth in the hoop.

Here’s a brief overview of the steps to follow:

• Step 1: The inner side of the embroidery hoop should be on your table. Then, place the felt on top. The outer side of the embroidery hoop should be on top of your cross-stitch fabric. The hoop should be attached to the felt by the outside edge of the embroidery hoop.
• Step 2: Make sure your work is placed nicely in the hoop. Depending on the design and its pattern you may want to center it, while other times it is more appealing to place it in the corner. Fasten the work in the hoop with the screw of the embroidery hoop.
• Step 3: An embroidery hoop can be used to frame your cross-stitch project. You should cut the excess fabric and felt so that the circle has about 1 inch (2,5 cm) on each side.
• Step 4: Then, stitch the yarn firmly onto the fabric’s border using the needle and yarn.
• Step 5: The border of your fabric should be stitched with a running stitch.
• Step 6: Around the border, continue running stitching.
• Step 7: Pull the yarn tightly and you will see wrinkles in the fabric on the backside.
• Step 8: Finish your border by stitching the end of your floss. Done!

Tips to Decorate Your Framed Embroidery

Now that you’re done framing the crafted piece of embroidery it is time to showcase it to enhance the aesthetic appeal of your living space.

There are plenty of ways to do that, here are a few:

1. Use Your shelves if you don’t want to hang up your pieces on the wall.
2. Using Masking Tape to attach hoops to the wall can be another great way to showcase your craft.
3. You can apply sticky hooks on the wall to hang your framed embroidery. It helps to keep your wall intact without any additional marks on it since they are easy to peel off from the spot as well.
4. Lastly, apply iron nails on the wall if you don’t care about the wall that much and want to make your craft to get a better fit on the wall.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

So far in this whole article, we’ve covered through and through the essential points to know how to frame an embroidery piece of cloth. There are various methods, and purposes of this craft, and not every method would be suitable for you. So, study them before you decide. You can take notes of the tools required before starting off the project. Experts recommend not skipping any steps mentioned and discussed here. Following them properly would serve you the desired outcome you’d be satisfied with. So get to framing your embroidery and make it look beautiful!

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