Ellen Jackson

When starting any cross stitch project, most stitchers are very excited to get down to business and start stitching.  It is always great to start putting colors on to your fabric pallet and see the design begin to come to life.  However, there are basic business matters such as preparing our fabric to deal with before we can get to the fun of actually starting the first stitch.

Fabric preparation can be an annoyance to any cross stitcher from the newest stitcher to the most experienced stitchers, and yet fabric preparation is very important to the outcome of your finished project.  In this article, we will review the importance of assuring we have the correct fabric, sizing our fabric, preventing fray around fabric edges and finding the center of our fabric.

When starting a new cross stitch project it is very important to the integrity of your project to first make sure you are using the correct count fabric.  If you are using a kit, you can usually rest assured that the correct fabric has come in the kit, but I always like to check.  I have found in the past when doing projects that have been purchased from thrift stores or that have previously been opened, fabrics have been accidentally switched or mixed up, (and we all know what some of our hobby closets can look like at times) .

The reason it is so important to make sure you are using the correct count fabric is because if you are using a different count fabric from what the pattern instructs, what was supposed to be a 12 inch design can end up being 4 inch design.  Different counts in fabric can drastically change the size of your finished project.

Another equally important pre-stitching requirement is to measure your fabric correctly, measure it as many times as you need to.  When measuring the fabric for your new project, ensure you take into account what you are planning to do with the piece once you have finished it.  If you are planning on mounting and framing your cross stitch, you need to leave adequate space around the entire design to secure it in place.  It is essential to make sure that the space you are leaving around your design keeps the design in the center.  In most cases of cross stitch framing you should leave 2 to 3 inches on all sides of the design.

After you have checked that you are using the correct fabric and have worked so hard to measure and make sure it is the correct size, the last thing you want to happen is to lose three inches off the fabric because you didn't protect your cross stitch fabric from fraying!  Okay,  three inches is a little drastic but fraying fabric is bad anyhow.

If the fabric is allowed to fray as you are working on your cross stitch design, all the work you just put into making sure the fabric is the right size has been wasted because while the fabric is fraying there is no way to ensure that your design is staying centered.  The easiest way to protect your cross stitch projects from fraying edges is to use Fray Check, you can find it at any hobby store or online and it won't harm the fabric you are working with.

If you are not in the mood to run out and buy something, you may not already have you can serge the edges of your fabric with a serger or sewing machine.  Other options are to baste the edges by hand, and although this can be quite time consuming it is also very effective.  Then there is always the easy and quick fix of using masking tape around the edges of your fabric, although the above methods are much better and less likely to harm the edges of your fabric.

Finally after you have ensured you are using the correct fabric, double checked all your measurements, and dabbed Fray Check around all the edges, you are ready to find the center of your fabric and start stitching.  The quickest and easiest way to find the center of your fabric is simply to fold the fabric lengthwise and widthwise, and where the folds intersect is the center of your fabric.  And now with a sigh of relief you can start your first stitch right there in the middle of your fully prepared fabric!