Monday 15 July 2013

Finishing up a cross stitch bookmark

So, you've cross stitched (or worked another counted thread technique) onto Aida band, or a similar, pre-edged fabric, and you're now ready to finish up your bookmark.  Here's how:

First of all, finger press in about an inch (up to 3cm) of waste fabric at each end of the design.  Make sure that the two ends are equal on the front (assuming that's the effect you want to create, of course!)
Trim away some of the fabric so that you have a nice even edge at the bottom, and taper off the edges.  This is so that you don't end up with any frayed scraps of fabric spoiling the finished piece.
Using a sewing thread that matches your Aida band colour as closely as you can manage, make a few discreet stitches along the outside edge.  Try to make them between the insides of the two edges so that the stitches don't show on the front.  You can do this by catching the long stitches on the inner edge of the Aida band and joining them together.

There's no need to make any stitches along the straight edge and it's often better not to so as not to risk anything showing.  Also, the edge of the fabric will almost certainly fray, so stitches are no real use here.

Cut a coordinating piece of felt to fit (I like the dense type best) and trim it until it is just smaller than the total area of your bookmark.  Leave a small amount of fabric showing at the two narrow ends and just enough to sew the felt to along the two long edges.

Still using the thread that matches the Aida band (in case you slip up and sew through, although you could use one that matches the felt instead, if you preferred), sew the two pieces together, again taking care to catch the long stitches on the band so that they don't show on the front.  And here's the (back of) the finished item:


I hope that's been useful!  If you use this tute (or part of it), please leave a link in the comments section to where we can admire a photo of your lovely new bookmark.=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

11 comments:

Rachel said...

Very clear, Elizabeth. I would only add - as a book lover - you want a dense but fine felt, so as not to end up with a bookmark that is too thick and might damage the spine of the book.

And I congratulate you on spelling "discreet" correctly for your context. It's one of my pet peeves that people get that one wrong and it always takes me an extra second to work out what they mean!

Rachel Cotterill said...

I always struggle with finishing things neatly. I'm making a corset for a class at the moment, and the technical side has all gone well, but now I have to finish it which I'm slightly dreading!

Your bookmarks are lovely :)

Unknown said...

OMG! I'm so glad to find these details!! Thank you! My book mark is finishing perfectly. The directions that came with the kit were not clear at all.

Fairy Godmother said...

Hello I was so pleased to find your page on finishing a Bookmark . I am a Volunteer Grannie at my Grandaughters village school .
I have a lunch time Embroidery class with a few 6,7 and 8 year old s and have been asked to do some Cross Stitch with a class of 6 and 7 year olds as part of their Victorian project . The Only bit I was worried about was the finishing but after reading your instructions I feel confident we can complete the task .
Thank you
Jan Walker
Derbyshire

Cerrillos Sandy said...

I haven't done any cross-stitching in about ten years and was really fuzzy on how to finish bookmarks. Thanks for instructions that seem to be very easy with a beautiful product!

Unknown said...

I fortunately found your instructions on how to finish a bookmark on Aida band. I had some unfinished bookmarks done that I didn't know how to finish, so your very clear instructions are a big help to me. Thanks so much!

Unknown said...

Barbara Thank you so much for your very clear and easy instructions on how to finish an aids band bookmark

Anonymous said...

thanks Heavens I found this! there were NO instructions on my bookmark kit on how to finish it and I was stumped! This is just what I was looking for, thank you!

Unknown said...

that was exactly the help i was looking for. very clear instructions and i am now finished and love the end results. thank you so much.......

Unknown said...

Πολύ σαφείς οδηγίες ευχαριστώ !!!!

Anonymous said...

Muchas gracias por toda la información

 
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