Quick Craft: Geek Stitch

Back when I was young and bored, I used to do a lot of cross stitch. I still find the tedium of the craft soothing, but these days I don't have hours on end to sit stitching, so I've mostly retired my floss and needles.

Then I saw this pattern a few weeks ago:

As soon as I saw this I thought of Number1, who recently moved to Minneapolis. C'mon; it's a scannable QR code that reads "Home Sweet Home." Yes, please!

The pattern was only $3.50 from Velvet Elvii, and it was e-mailed over within just a few hours. I still have my old XS materials, too, so I managed to scrounge up everything I needed without spending any more moolah on it.

Oh, and I changed up the colors a bit to give mine more of a graphic punch:

I just love black and white and yellow together. So cheery.

I don't know about you fellow stitchers, but I've never had an easy time of framing my finished pieces. I never remember to leave enough room on the edges, so I usually just sandwich the fabric in a frame and hope it doesn't droop or sag too much.

I planned to frame this one, in fact, and spent a fair amount of time putting together this laser-cut paper background to lay the fabric on:

But unfortunately the X-stitch just didn't look right with it. Too busy. This will have to wait for another project.

If you decide to skip the frame as well, here's what I did:

First, find a heavy mat board to use as a base. Don't use flimsy cardboard or card stock, because those could bend or warp. (Also, I should note that if you want your piece to last, always use acid-free and archival quality materials and adhesives.)

Cut the board to a size just slightly larger than your pattern.

If your board isn't already the color of your fabric, glue a layer of paper to the side your fabric will lay on. (You don't want a distracting color showing through the holes in your fabric.)

Once your paper is glued and trimmed in place, lay your fabric on the board and fold the edges over the edges:

Glues the edges down (I used a simple white craft glue), but leave the corners sticking up for now.

When all the sides are glued and dried, take each corner and press it down so it forms a square, like this:

DON'T GLUE IT YET. Just press with your fingers to get the creases in place.

Now, carefully - carefully - snip off the two wedges your creases outlined:

As you can see, this removes the excess fabric and allows your corners to sit almost flush.

With both side wedges removed, your corner will look like this:

Now simply grab that top point and pull it straight down, being sure to glue the edges well to avoid fraying.

When you're done, the back of your piece should look something like this:

And here's the front:

See how nice and tight the corners are?

Oh, and if you wanted to give your piece a little more of a puffy/pillowy look, you could always add a layer of batting between your fabric and the board. Well, I mean, you can't NOW, but you could have back before we glued the fabric down. (See why you should always read all the instructions before starting?)

I wanted this design to be perfectly flat so the QR code would scan easily, but most small patterns actually look pretty cute as miniature pillows - they look nice hanging on door handles. And in those cases, a few minutes with the sewing machine and a pretty coordinating fabric is all you need.

Anyway, getting back to this project, now all that's left to do is glue on a ribbon for the hanger, and then cover the back with another square of paper or felt to make it look nice and neat:

And finally, with a little help from John and his phone, allow me to present the moment of truth:

[drumroll, please...]

IT WORKS!!

WA-HooOOoo!!

Oh, and Number1? You may have a package coming in the mail soon. Um. Surprise? :D

Next up I have at least four more geeky patterns I want to buy from Velvet Elvii. How 'bout you guys? Where do you find great patterns?

*****

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