Framing Embroidery

Framing embroidery is a wonderful way to display your favorite designs and beautiful handiwork. Give as a gift for friends and family, or showcase in your home on a wall or side table.

Remove the back of the frame and the glass.

Lay the fabric with the right side facing up.

Center the back of the frame on top of the fabric as shown and trace the shape.

Allow a few inches of excess fabric around the frame for hooping. Set the frame aside for now.

A template is a printout of a design, and it's an excellent tool to plan where to stitch. Print a template of the design using embroidery software.If you do not have software, you can also cut out a piece of paper the size of your design to use as a way to place where you'd like your design to be.
Center the template inside the shape. There should be at least 1" of space in-between the outer edges of the design and the edges of the shape.

Mark the center point and the horizontal and vertical axis lines.

Remove the template.

Hoop the fabric with one piece of medium-weight stabilizer, aligning the marks on the hoop with the marks on the fabric.

Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design.

Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the tape.

Embroider the design.

When the design has finished, unhoop the fabric.

In this tutorial, a second design is being added within the first design.

Create a paper template, position the template, and mark the center and axis lines.

Hoop the fabric, and load the second embroidery design.

The first design might be hooped over -- this is ok, the design will not be harmed by the hoop.

Attach the hoop to the machine, move the needle over the center point, and embroider the design.

You can also merge the designs together using embroidery software.

Merge the two designs together, place them how you would like, and then print a template of the design.

Use that template for placement on the fabric, mark the fabric, and embroider the design.

When the design has finished, unhoop the fabric.

Leave the stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery to give the fabric more support.

Insert a pin at each corner of the shape.

Turn the fabric over and make a mark at each pin, then remove the pins.

These marks will help when adding the back of the frame.

Spray the wrong side of the back of the frame with permanent all-purpose adhesive.

Align the back of the frame with the marks you just made on the backside of the embroidery; press in place.

Carefully trim away the excess stabilizer -- trim as close to the edges of the back of the frame as possible but do not cut the fabric.

Then, trim the excess fabric around the outer edges of the back of the frame, leaving about 3/4" behind.

Spray the sides of the back of the frame with adhesive, fold the fabric over on all sides, and press in place.

Trim the excess fabric at each corner.

Another option instead of permanent adhesive is to add all-purpose glue to the frame back with a brush.

Then, add the embroidered fabric as shown earlier.

Add the back of the frame into the frame.

Framed embroidery adds eye-catching style to any home decor.

Use the technique above for framing large or small designs. A 4" x 4" design fits wonderfully inside a 5" x 7" frame. Great on a desk or shelf, or make multiple for an entire framed set!

This project is featured on the Embroidery Library Pinterest page.

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