Self-finishing needlepoint

What self-finishing means

Most needlepoint is finished by hand, to order. Self-finishing goods are another way: makers produce leather and acrylic items sized for a needlepoint canvas, and you fit the stitching yourself. One designer says it often costs less than sending a piece out. For the other ways, see needlepoint finishing.

There are two kinds.

• Leather goods with a sticky window. Key fobs, luggage tags and clutches with an opening in the leather. Behind the opening is a sheet of adhesive under a paper cover. The stitched canvas sticks to it, and its edges tuck under the leather.
• Clear acrylic. Coasters and trays that show a stitched piece through the plastic. The needlepoint is first made into a firm, backed insert, which slides in or is set in.

Acrylic clutches and leather boxes made to hold a stitched canvas are sold as well. For either, follow the maker's instructions.

Self-finish when your canvas is a size that fits one of these ready-made items. Send it to a finisher when you want custom cord and backing fabric. For an old or inherited piece, see old needlepoint before you trim it or put adhesive on it.

What size to stitch

The opening decides the size, and openings differ from maker to maker. Shops list a luggage tag that takes a 2 by 3 inch (5 by 7.6 cm) canvas, an acrylic coaster for a 4 inch (10 cm) square, and clutches for 3 by 6, about 4 by 7, and 5 by 7 inches (7.6 by 15, about 10 by 18, and 13 by 18 cm). These are examples. Measure your own item before you stitch.

1. Measure the opening from edge to edge.
2. Turn that into stitches: inches times the mesh of your canvas. The canvas size calculator does the sum.
3. Stitch enough to fill the opening. If the design stops short of the edge of the opening, add rows round it until it reaches. One kit maker says this can take an extra row or two all round.
4. Do not go far past the edge. The same kit maker's limit is about 1 mm beyond the opening. That is less than one stitch: a stitch is 1/18 inch (1.4 mm) wide on 18 mesh and 1/13 inch (about 2 mm) on 13 mesh. One designer's rule for her own clutch is in rows: two extra rows round a 5 by 7 inch (13 by 18 cm) design, about 3 mm on 18 mesh and 4 mm on 13 mesh, so that no bare mesh shows. Makers differ, so follow the maker of your item.
5. Test before you cut. Photocopy the stitched piece at its actual size and check the copy against the piece. Cut the stitched area out of the paper copy and lay it over the opening. The copy should fill the opening, with no gap at any edge, and go no further past it than the maker's limit.

Too little stitching leaves bare canvas showing in the window. The kit maker's advice is that too much is better than too little, within its limit.

The insert for an acrylic coaster or tray is sized differently, because the stitching wraps round a board and a cord runs round the edge. Measure the inside of the item and choose the cord before you stitch. In the method below the stitching is the size of the back board, which is at most the inside measurement less the cord on each side. One finisher's stitching is usually about half an inch (13 mm) larger than that each way. The steps below take either size.

Putting needlepoint into a leather fob, tag or clutch

The steps below also apply to any other self-finishing item with an adhesive sheet.

Treat this finish as permanent. A clutch whose canvas is to be changed later is finished a different way, with interfacing: ask the shop that sells it before you start.

You need the stitched piece, sharp scissors, a craft knife, a blunt table knife and a heavy book.

1. Make it square. Stitch on stretcher bars or block the piece, so the rows of stitches run parallel to the edges of the opening. If a piece worked on bars is still out of square, block it.
2. Trim the canvas. Measure against the item before you cut: you can trim more later, but you cannot put canvas back. Then cut close to the stitching without cutting a stitch, leaving 2 or 3 rows of bare canvas all round, or about 3/16 inch (5 mm).
3. Loosen the leather. Slide the blunt knife under the edges of the opening, where the canvas will tuck in.
4. Uncover the adhesive. Score an X across the paper with the craft knife, no deeper than the paper: the cut is only there to give the paper an edge to lift. Peel the paper away, starting at the cut. Take off all of the paper, including what lies under the leather edges.
5. Place the top edge. Center the piece over the opening without pressing it down yet. Line up the top edge of the stitching with the edge of the leather above it, so the rows sit straight, and tuck that edge under with the blunt knife.
6. Press the middle. Once the top edge is in place, press the middle down onto the adhesive so the piece cannot shift.
7. Tuck the rest. Ease the other edges under the leather, sides before corners. Go round more than once if you need to, until there are no folds under the edges and no "dog ears" at the corners.
8. Weight it. Leave a heavy book on it for a few hours, to help the adhesive take hold.

What can go wrong:

• Bare canvas at the edge of the window: the piece was stitched too small. Check with the paper copy before you trim, and stitch more while the margin is still on.
• A crooked picture: the canvas was not square, or the top edge was not lined up with the leather.
• Lumps at the corners: canvas folded on itself. Lift the leather with the blunt knife and smooth it out.

Putting needlepoint into an acrylic coaster or tray

An acrylic coaster or tray holds an insert: the needlepoint wrapped over board and backed with fabric. A finisher will make the insert for you, as a hard-backed piece with no hanging loop and no padding. One shop asks you to measure the piece against your coaster or tray first.

To make it yourself, work from the acrylic, not from the stitching. The finished insert has cord round its edge and batting under the stitching, and all of it has to fit. A finisher who writes about these inserts warns that the stated size is not always the real one: a tray sold as 8 1/2 by 11 inches (21.6 by 27.9 cm) measured 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) more each way inside.

Treat glue as permanent. A kit maker's method for this insert glues the backing fabric, the two boards and the tip of the cord, and also allows glue in place of the lacing in step 4, to hold the folded margin to the back of the board. A glued margin cannot be unpicked for the trial in step 5, so lace the margin, at least until the insert has been tried in the acrylic. Writing about framing, the same kit maker advises against glue, because it limits finishing the canvas another way later. The finisher laces instead of gluing: the backing fabric is laced over its board like the front, the cord and the two halves are sewn together, and every step can be undone.

You need the stitched piece, acid-free mat board, thin batting, backing fabric, fabric glue, enough cord to go round the whole edge, with a little over at each end to tuck in, sewing thread or pearl cotton for the lacing, invisible thread for the cord, a needle, scissors, clips and something to measure with. The finisher measures with digital calipers and cuts the board with a craft knife or scissors.

1. Measure. Measure the inside of the coaster or tray: width, length and depth. Measure the stitched area too. Write both down, and compare them before you trim. The back board in step 3 is at most the inside measurement less the cord on each side. The stitching is meant to be that size or a little larger, and it has to be larger than the front board, which is smaller again, so that it wraps round the edge. If the stitching is smaller than the inside measurement less the cord on each side, add rows now, while the margin is still on, or plan on thicker cord (step 5). An ornament tutorial adds two or three rows of background for the same reason: a little stitching is lost over the edge of the board.
2. Block and trim. Block the piece so it lies flat. Then trim the canvas, leaving at least half an inch (13 mm) of bare canvas round the stitching on 18 mesh and an inch (25 mm) on 13 mesh, the finisher's margins. The kit maker's margin is about 3/8 to 5/8 inch (1 to 1.5 cm). The larger margin is the safer cut: you can trim more later, but you cannot put canvas back.
3. Cut two boards from acid-free mat board. The finisher's is 4-ply. Settle the size from the two measurements of step 1 before you cut. The finisher's rule is that a board is the inside measurement less the cord. The cord runs round the whole edge, so its thickness comes off twice each way, once for each side. Cut the back board to the size of the stitched area, as the kit maker does, or to the inside measurement less the cord on each side if that is smaller. Cut the front board about 3/16 inch (5 mm) shorter each way than the back board, the kit maker's difference. Where the back board is smaller than the stitched area, the stitching wraps a little further round the edge. Cut thin batting to the size of the front board.
4. Lace the front. Lay the batting and the front board on the back of the needlepoint and fold the canvas margin over, the corners first and then the sides, and hold the folds with clips. Do not snip the corners of the canvas margin: the diagonal snip in step 6 is for the backing fabric only. The finisher's check is that the stitching wraps round the edge of the board: laid face up, it touches the table all round. If it does not, the front board is too big for the stitching: cut it a little smaller, and the back board by the same amount, and check again. The finisher usually cuts a board half an inch (13 mm) smaller each way than the stitched area. Lace the margin across the back, side to opposite side, so the front is pulled smooth, and stitch each folded corner down as the lacing reaches it. The kit maker laces with regular sewing thread, the finisher with pearl cotton. The trial in step 5 shows whether the corners are too bulky to fit.
5. Try it in the acrylic before any glue: the laced front, the bare back board and the cord tucked in beside them. The finisher fits the front before making the back, so that any change of size comes before the back is covered. If it is too tight across, unpick the lacing and cut the boards smaller. If it is too thick for the depth, mend that now as well. The insert a shop's finisher makes to order has no padding, so the batting can come out: unpick the lacing, take it out and lace again. In an opening half an inch (13 mm) deep or less, the finisher who writes about inserts uses one layer of batting at most, and thinner cord. If the stitching is a little small for the space, the finisher uses thicker cord rather than let bare canvas show. If the corners are what stop it, unpick the lacing and trim the margin evenly, no closer than half an inch (13 mm) from the stitching. Past that, the corners are a finisher's job.
6. Cover the back board with backing fabric: cut the fabric a little larger, snip the corners off diagonally, fold the edges to the back and glue them. The kit maker holds the folds with clips while the glue dries.
7. Join the two. When the glue on the back is dry, try the parts in the acrylic once more before joining them: the laced front, the covered back and the cord. The trial in step 5 was made with the back board bare, and the back now has fabric folded round its edges. If the fit has become tight, change to thinner cord: the finisher settles the thickness of the cord from a trial fit. Before any glue goes on the boards, choose a short stretch of the edge to leave without glue: in step 8 the ends of the cord are tucked in there, between the front and the back. An ornament tutorial leaves about an inch and a half (4 cm). Then glue the two boards together back to back, keeping the glue about a quarter inch (6 mm) in from the edge all round, so that none seeps out, and out of that stretch altogether. Press firmly and let the glue set.
8. Add the cord. Both ends of the cord finish in the gap left in step 7, side by side. On bought cord, work a little glue into the first end and let it dry, which stiffens it. Tuck the first end in and wrap the cord around the edge, holding it with clips. The kit maker leaves a little extra at the far end, stiffens that tip with a little glue and lets it dry, so that it is easier to tuck in. An ornament tutorial puts glue on the cord where it will be cut, lets it dry and then cuts it. Sew the cord on by hand all the way round, joining it to both halves as the finisher does. The kit maker and the finisher both sew it with invisible thread. Then tuck the stiffened tip into the gap beside the first end, and sew across the gap in the same way to close it.
9. Fit it. Slide the finished insert into the open side of the coaster. Not every tray has an open side: the finisher lists acrylic goods that hold the insert behind a magnetic closure or between two pieces of acrylic, and trays where it sits inside the walls under a clear sheet. A tray takes its insert the way its maker shows.

The finisher names two differences from finishing a flat ornament: there is no loop to hide the ends of the cord, and the insert has to be measured to fit. See how to finish an ornament for the ornament method in full.

A key fob without a leather blank

A strip key fob is not self-finishing in the same sense: the needlepoint is backed, folded and clamped into metal hardware. A kit maker's method fixes the backing on in one of two ways. One of them uses fusible web and an iron, and the kind of web and the heat have to be settled before step 3.

The iron needs care. A maker of metallic threads says a hot iron placed straight on its thread will melt or shrink it, because most metallic threads are synthetic. It asks for a press cloth between iron and thread, and no steam. It presses raised stitches face down on a towel, so the iron does not flatten them. A maker of fusible web sets the iron to medium heat with no steam, says to test the web on the materials first, and says the iron must not touch the adhesive itself. Pressing times differ. The kit maker presses for about 15 seconds through a towel. For its sewable web on cotton, the web maker holds the iron on the paper for 2 to 4 seconds. Once the paper is off and the two pieces are together, it holds the iron for 6 to 8 seconds on each section, and longer for thick fabric. Follow the instructions that come with yours, for the time as well as the heat.

Treat fusible web as permanent. That maker sells two kinds. It lists the stronger one as permanent and says not to sew through it. The lighter one is made to be sewn along the edges. Step 3 ends with sewing, so use a sewable kind.

You need the stitched strip, key fob hardware, webbing or fabric for the backing, basting tape or sewable fusible web, scissors, a sewing machine or a needle, thread, pliers and a cloth to protect the hardware. For fusible web you also need an iron, a towel to lay the piece on and a towel or pressing cloth to cover it.

The kit maker's method, in short:

1. Block the strip, then trim the canvas to half an inch (13 mm) all round. Before folding, trim the margin at the corners so that no canvas overlaps on the back: trim a little, fold and look before trimming more. Then fold the raw edges to the back.
2. Cut the backing, webbing or fabric, about half an inch (13 mm) shorter than the needlepoint, so it does not bunch when the strip is folded. Its width need not be exact: any backing that stands beyond the edges of the needlepoint is trimmed off after the sewing in step 3.
3. Fix the backing on. The kit maker gives two ways. One is basting tape along the edges of the backing, which needs no heat: peel off its film, keep both pieces slightly curved, line up the edges and press them together. The other is fusible web, with the cautions above. Cut the web to size before the iron is used, slightly smaller than the two pieces it lies between, so that no adhesive reaches the iron or the ironing board: narrower than the folded strip and than the backing, and shorter than the backing, which is the shorter of the two (step 2). Lay the backing on the back of the strip to see where it will sit, and keep the web inside that area. Then lay the needlepoint face down on a towel, lay the web paper side up on its back, cover it with a towel or pressing cloth, and press with an iron. The kit maker's time is about 15 seconds. Peel off the paper, lay the backing on so that it covers all of the adhesive, and press again the same way, through the cloth. Either way, sew along the edges afterwards, by machine or by hand. On a machine the kit maker uses clear thread on top and thread to match the backing in the bobbin, and sews with the needlepoint facing up, because the thinner backing could shift if it were on top. Then trim any backing that stands beyond the needlepoint so that the edges line up.
4. Fold the strip, push both short ends into the hardware and pinch it shut with pliers, with a cloth between to protect the metal.

If you send a key fob to a finisher instead, ask about extra rows. One shop requires two on each side, and says the leather of its looped key fob covers three quarters of an inch (2 cm) of the needlepoint at each end.