indomara

As an aside, I have come up with a way of framing my finished cross stitch projects that I really like and thought I would share here:

I wash the piece and rinse well, then leave sandwiched in a clean white towel under a stack of books over night.

The next morning it is very slightly damp, and I gently spray the back of it with spray starch (the kind used for ironing shirts).

Then I iron the back of it, with the front on a clean section of the towel so the stitches aren't flattened, then leave it to dry uncovered for a few hours.

Then I flip it over, and armed with a toothpick and a few q-tips I spray some starch in a little cup and using a q-tip I dab any stitches like lettering or back stitches or French knots to wet them with starch and use the tooth pick to carefully align them.

While that dries, I get a piece of card stock and spray it with craft spray adhesive, there are many brands, but it's important that it's acid free and that the can reads that you can either spray and put together immediately for a permanent bond, or spray and let dry to use as a temporary positioning adhesive.

This is what I want, I spray a thin layer, let it dry, and it has the feel of... A sticky note adhesive. It holds the cross stitch so it cannot sag in the frame, but is completely temporary. I carefully place the cross stitch on the board and use a clean q-tip to press around the letters and design til I'm happy and pop it in a frame.

I've done quite a few like this over the years and so far nothing has gone awry. If anything does I'm confident it's reversible. 😊