How to wash, press and frame finished cross stitch

Before you wash

Turn the piece over first. Every tail should be woven in and trimmed, because a long loose end on the back can show through pale fabric once the piece is stretched tight over a board. If you need a refresher, starting and finishing threads covers it.

Then look for marks. If you gridded the fabric or traced anything with a water-soluble pen, those marks need to come out with plain water before any heat touches them. One marking pen maker's instructions say not to iron over the marks, or launder the fabric, until they're completely removed with plain water.

Finally, think about the threads. DMC says its embroidery threads are tested to be colorfast and fade resistant. Hand-dyed and overdyed threads are a different story. At least one hand-dyed thread company recommends not washing finished projects at all, even though most of its colors are colorfast, because a little excess dye can stay in the fibers. If your piece uses hand-dyed floss, check that maker's advice, and if in doubt, skip the wash and press it dry, without steam.

Not every piece needs washing. If it's clean, unmarked and the only problem is a crease from the hoop, a press may be all it needs.

How to wash by hand

This follows DMC's method for finished needlework:

1. Rinse the piece under clean, cold running water.
2. Add a small amount of non-biological detergent and wash gently by hand. Don't rub or scrub the stitches.
3. Rinse several times in cold water until the water runs clear.
4. If the water turns colored, stop washing but don't let the piece dry. Keep rinsing in cold water until it runs clear, and don't iron it until the bleeding has stopped.

Wash it on its own, never with other embroidery or laundry. Avoid biological powders, harsh detergents and chlorine bleach. DMC doesn't recommend dry cleaning finished cross stitch, and warns against protective coating sprays too, since they can react with thread dyes.

Drying

Don't wring it. Roll the piece up between two clean towels and squeeze gently to press the water out. Unroll, move it to a dry towel, lay it flat and let it air dry until it's just damp. Damp is the right moment to press.

Pressing

Lay a clean, fluffy towel on the ironing board, put the stitching face down on it, and cover it with a second towel. The towels give the stitches somewhere to sink into, so they keep their raised look instead of being crushed flat.

Press lightly with a warm iron, not a hot one. Use the steam setting for stubborn creases and fold lines. I lift and lower the iron rather than sliding it around, so the damp fabric doesn't get pushed out of shape.

Check that the grid of the fabric is straight while it's still warm. If the piece has gone slightly out of square, ease it back gently with your hands and press again.

Mounting for a frame

The goal is to stretch the fabric evenly over a firm board so it stays flat and square for years without sagging or rippling.

The board

Use acid-free board. Acidic board breaks down over time and the acids damage the textile touching it; one conservation tip sheet notes that a mat whose cut edge has turned tan or brown is a sign of acidic board. Acid-free mat board or acid-free foam core both work, and foam core has the advantage of taking pins in its edge.

The mounted board has to sit in the rabbet of your frame, the recess at the back that holds the glass and backing. Cut it a little smaller than the rabbet so it still fits once the fabric is wrapped around its edges.

Centering and the border

Decide how much bare fabric you want around the design before you pin anything. With a mat, the mat window sets the border, and a little fabric showing between the stitching and the mat usually looks better than stitches running right to the edge. Without a mat, the board size sets it.

Measure from each edge of the stitching to each edge of the board and get the left and right margins equal, and the top and bottom. Count fabric threads or Aida blocks rather than trusting your eye, because a design that's off by a few millimeters looks crooked once it's framed.

Pinning and lacing

Center the stitching on the board and push pins through the fabric into the edge of the board, starting at the middle of each side and working out toward the corners. Check the fabric grain stays straight as you go. Stainless steel pins won't rust.

Then lace. Fold the spare fabric to the back and, with a long length of strong thread, work back and forth between opposite edges, taking a small bite of fabric each time. Lace one direction first, tighten evenly, then fold the corners and lace the other way. Strong linen thread works well, and a very strong cotton will do. Lacing holds the tension without glue, and it can be undone if the piece ever needs reframing or washing.

How much fabric you need

Lacing needs fabric to wrap around the board and grip. For a small piece, about an inch to an inch and a quarter beyond the board edge on every side is enough to lace. That's one reason stitchers cut their fabric with a few inches to spare on each side when they start. The fabric size calculator works out a cut size with a 3 inch margin built in.

Skip the glue

Self-adhesive mounting boards are quick, but peeling the fabric off one later can damage it, and boards that aren't archival can discolor the fabric over time. Textile conservators advise against glues, adhesive tapes, staples and tacks touching a textile you want to keep. If the piece matters to you, lace or pin it.

Glass, mats and spacers

Glass keeps dust and fingers off the stitching, but it should never touch the stitches. The Minnesota Historical Society's guidance for framing textiles recommends at least 3/8 inch of space between the textile and the glazing. Moisture can condense on the inside of the glass, and a textile pressed against it can soak that up and stain. A single standard mat isn't thick enough on its own, so use a deep or stacked mat, or spacer strips hidden in the frame's rabbet.

Choose UV-filtering glazing. Light fades dyes and weakens fibers over time. You have three sensible options:

Some stitchers frame without glass so the texture of the stitches shows. That's a fair choice, as long as you accept the piece is open to dust and handling.

Finishing in a hoop

For a quick, casual finish, a hoop works well. Center the piece in the hoop and tighten it, then trim the fabric to leave about an inch all around. Run a gathering stitch around that edge and pull it up tight on the back. Trace the hoop on felt, cut just inside the line, and whip stitch the felt circle over the back to hide everything.

A hoop isn't a conservation mount, and the fabric stays exposed to dust. It's a good choice for gifts and quick projects, less so for a sampler you hope to hand down.

If it has to wait

Finished pieces often sit for weeks before they're framed. Don't fold them, because a fold line across stitching can be stubborn to press out. Roll the piece around a tube instead, with the stitched side facing outward, and wrap it in acid-free tissue or a clean, washed cotton cloth. A cardboard tube should be covered first so the stitching isn't touching bare cardboard. Store it somewhere dry and dark until you're ready.

Where to hang it

Keep framed stitching out of direct sunlight and away from fireplaces and radiators. Avoid the outside walls of unheated buildings and frames with built-in picture lights. Taping over the gap where the backing board meets the frame, and adding a dust cover on the back, helps keep dust out.

Working with a framer

A framer who does needlework will know all of this, but it's fair to ask. Bring the piece washed and pressed, and ask whether they lace or pin rather than glue, whether the boards are acid-free, how they keep the glass off the stitches, and whether the glazing filters UV. If you're planning ahead, the Aida count converter shows how big a design will stitch up, so you can match it to a standard frame size before you start.