Framing help

Reptilegirl27

Okay my cross stitch addicted ladies I need some serious help! I finally...yes I FINALLY finished that pain in my toosh cross stitch pattern! If you know me then you know why ;P  But yay and thank goodness LOL! My dilemma is that Ive never framed one before. My kit came with some basic directions but it looks so difficult! My other issue is I havent had much luck finding a frame and this piece is decently big about 11"x20" and Im far too broke to pay someone to do it for me.

Any tips, advice, suggestions, just help would be so greatly appreciated!

Im definitely posting pics...just a soon as I can frame this beauty :)

Thank you all so much!
Amanda XOXO

@MrsMathis  @Yenilaia  

*** Edit 9/3/13 @ 9:40pm - added dimensions from package ***

Lindy Lou

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

LouAnna

Try looking for a frame at a charity store, they are usually very reasonably priced.   Make sure there is enough space between the back and face of the frame to contain, the foam core, mat and glass, about 1cm or 1/2 inch.    I found foam core at our local dolllar store and Ive also found brown paper backing for the back of the finished framed piece in the same store (brown postal wrap will also do).    I lace mine with crochet cotton, but thats up to you to decide how you want to attach your finished piece to the core.  There is also the self adhesive boards you can buy at framing stores.

BTW make sure you take a measuring tape on your person or in your purse so you can measure the frame!  :D

medillon61

Remember also if you cant find a frame you like you can always go bigger and mat the piece... I love the mat look.  Pretty much everything in the craft stores now is safe to use.  You can get foam at the craft stores too its not expensive.  The biggest pain in the butt is getting it absolutely straight.  I use craft tape that allows me to move the piece til I get it where I want it.

spacegirl

You can find some pretty nice frames on ebay. If you have a mitre saw you can take them apart, recut them down to the size you need and put them back together pretty easily. Ive seen some high quality, vintage ones go for really good prices.

A tip - when Im trying to get something perfectly straight whether its an ornament or something framed I measure the design and then the foam core (or matboard for ornaments), and figure out exactly how far the top edge will be from the design then I baste a line in the linen like if Im gridding. Then I do it on the left side. Then all I have to do is keep that basted line EXACTLY on the edge of that foam core and the design will be perfectly centered and straight.

stitcherex

Sorry, the perennial 101 question here - what is the minimum margin allowance ? Is 2 in on each side enough ?  

When I am stitching on a fresh fat quarter (19 x 27in), there is plenty of margin, sometimes up to 4in on each side.  Problem starts when I use the remainder of the fat quarter, which usually measures around 19in x 9in.  It is too big to cut to card sizes, and 1in or 2 in short for my usual designs.  The last time I was in this situation, I managed to squeeze in 2 small Nimues.  

Appreciate views on the margin.

Cheers,
p

medillon61

porcini replied at 2013-9-3 20:08

                               
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Sorry, the perennial 101 question here - what is the minimum margin allowance ? Is 2 in on each side ...

I am doing a childs name right now ... and I am sitting her telling myself you dope you did not give yourself enough room on the bottom and I know I goofed I just know it.  But I decided what I am going to do :)  I saw on here last week a stitched piece that they attached to a bag and I love the look of the stitching against the material... I have decided I want to stitch the piece to material and I think what I am going to do is make like a quilting square, I will need two next to each other to be long enough and then frame the piece from there.

Lindy Lou

spacegirl replied at 2013-9-4 09:48

                               
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You can find some pretty nice frames on ebay. If you have a mitre saw you can take them apart, recut ...

I will have to keep this in mind.

medillon61

Found this on ebay the prices are reasonable and there are tons of different styles to choose from and different sizes - ebay.com/itm/18x24-Gold-leaf-Picture-Photoart-ready-Frame-B5Gb-frames4art-gallery-/130977285266?pt=Antiques_Decorative_Arts&hash=item1e7edac492

cute.panda.sue

oh my gosh!! you finally finished? <3 Thats awesome!! As some people said, there are lots of options to buy premade frames, but firstly, you are going to have to decide how big of a border you want for your picture. 2inches on each side? 3 inches? etc. Then learn how to mat a picture (the colour border around the picture itself, inside the frame.) and how to stretch your art work and secure it.
youtube.com/watch?v=abRs7-0wsEI
hubpages.com/hub/framing-cross-stitch
cross-stitching.com/feature/making/framing-your-work[/url]
themakingspot.com/cross-stitch/step-by-step/how-to-frame-your-stitching
those should help...