I finished the stitching a week ago, but I finally got it washed and pressed today. This has been a long time in the making! I started it in 2005 or thereabouts, but had to put it away because the stitching was too fine for me at the time. I took it out again in 2011, and have slowly been working on it ever since.
The big breakthrough was taking it out of the frame. This is 32-count linen, and I found it much easier to count, and to come up in the right place, once it was in hand.
What I would really like to do for the finishing is to hem stitch it and hang it on some kind of oversized bell pull hardware. The stitched area is about 10" wide. Even after washing, though, the linen is very stiff, so I may have to think about that some more.
There are 12 monthly samplers all together. The long term plan is just to hang the current month, so I'd rather not have bulky frames to store. If anyone has any suggestions for alternate finishing ideas, I'd love to hear them!
One down, eleven to go!
Lovely, lovely, lovely. Don't you just love stuff that has foreign language phrases? Oh, maybe for you they are not so foreign, as French is spoken in Canada. Anyway, very nice finish. I like the bell pull idea. If the fabric is stiff, wouldn't that be good so it hangs nice and straight? How about making a small casing at the top and bottom and inserting simple wooden dowels? You could paint the dowels in a neutral color so they could be reused each month. A cord or ribbon tied to each end of the dowel at the top would facilitate hanging.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary Ellen! Dowels and ribbon are a good idea. My only concern would be that there might not be enough weight on the bottom to pull it straight. I wonder how it could be weighted?
DeleteI can get by in French, but I am by no means fluent. In Toronto, though, the second-most spoken language after English is Cantonese.
There are small weights that you can get where sewing notions are sold. Dressmakers use them to weight the edges of jackets,and they are also used in the hems of draperies. You could sew a few onto the backside of the bottom hem if you feel that the dowel put through a bottom casing wouldn't be enough weight.
DeleteHm, interesting idea! Thanks, Mary Ellen, you have given me food for thought. :)
DeleteSo beautiful! They are worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katherine!
DeleteCongratulations on finishing! It is very fresh and bright - a great combination of colours.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jillian. It feels good to have it done. :)
DeleteI love it..Lovely colours..Well Done
ReplyDeleteThanks very much!
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