Step By Step

I thought it might be a nice change for me to show you the steps in the framing of a cross stitch.  Since I've already discussed how I go about designing mats and moulding for a piece, I thought I'd jump right into the nuts and bolts of it.
First, I cut an acid free foam core board the size of the frame.  I then cut a window in this board, the center of which I will use to stretch the cross stitch.  Using stainless steel pins, I stretch the cross stitch across the foamcore, lining up the grain of the fabric with the edge of the board.  I then pop the center of the board back into the window of the foamcore.

I then cut the mats to size and cut the bevelled window in the mats.  In this case a plain rectangular window suited the piece.  I adhere the mats to the outer portion of the foam core window.  Using this method, the cross stitch never comes into contact with any adhesives and it is easily removable for cleaning or a framing update.

Then comes the fun part.  I take a good hard look at the cross stitch and see what elements I want to use to embellish the mats.  In this case, I borrowed stripes from the witches sleeve and dots and moons from her dress.

I used these elements on different layers of matboard.

Then, for a little oomph, I'll scatter cut-out stars to finish the embellishment.

Now I build the frame.

All that's left is putting the package together.  As this is a shop model, I won't be putting any glass on it.  I'll simply neatly fold the remaining linen and pin it out of the way, put the frame on, paper the back and add a wire for hanging.

TA DA!

I hope you enjoyed the process as much as I did!

Jill