i haven’t been doing a lot of crafting this year, i’m on a cleaning/purging binge instead trying to get my house, craft room and library in order after several years of neglect. but every now and then i take some time out to finish up a project or two.
once i have enough space cleared out i’m planning to make up room boxes for my dolls. hopefully at least one per size. i’ve been collecting stuff to decorate them with for quite a while and adding new things as i find times or the right supplies.
this little project is one i had marked on pinterest for quite a while. it will become a rug for the little girls room. i loved the colors in the chart, the actual colors not so much. since i have a huge box of thread (most of it 25 years old or older) it was easy to find the colors i wanted… or at least reasonably easy. the first sample was close to the chart, but just didn’t look right, so after completing the leaves i pulled new colors from my box and started over. the second try was much better so this time i finished it up. it is stitched on 22 count even weave with 2 strands of floss.
and here it is with crystalorn, one of my pukifees so you can get an idea of the scale.
now i just have to figure out how to finish the edges to make it look like a real rug instead of a piece of cross stitched fabric 😆
suggestions i have recieved on how to finsih it
-fold under the edges leaving one or two rows exposed and do a stitch around it so it would be enclosed like the real rugs. Either a whip stitch or buttonhole stitch close together.
-turn it under as close to your stitching as possible
-backing with felt and then binding the edges
-give it a border with a coordinating ribbon. either a nice sturdy solid-color grosgrain, or a brocade trim.
-trim the edges back a couple of rows from the stitching, turn them under and one row from the stitching and loop embroidery threads through at the very edge of the stitching to create a thread fringe If you think the white will show through between fringe treads, buttonhole stitch closely around the edge in the same colour as the fringe before adding the fringe.
next post will (hopefully) show which i chose and the finished rug!
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