When done well, custom framing can really make a piece. The frame and mats can highlight individual elements or colors in the piece, set off or complement the embroidery as a whole, and provide a polished, finished look that makes the piece even more special.
But custom framing is not cheap. Mounting and framing typically start at around $100 for fairly small pieces with minimal fuss and can stretch into the several hundreds (potentially even in the thousands) for very large, complicated pieces. If you're like me, most of your embroidery pieces are going to be somewhere between 4" x 4" and 12" x 12". While custom framing for these won't be astronomically expensive, you're probably still looking at about $100 to $300 for each piece.
And if you've been spending the pandemic embroidering a flurry of pieces like I have, then this can add up very quickly. In the last couple of months alone, I have spent over $500 on custom framing. And alas, my budget has its limits. So what do you do when you have a piece you really want framed nicely but can't afford to have it custom framed? It's actually a lot simpler than you might think.
Back at the beginning of March, I picked up a Jessica Long kit called Anemones and Succulents to work on my needle painting and satin stitch skills. Just for fun, here's a short little video of my progress on that piece:
I really enjoyed stitching this one, and I thought it turned out reasonably well. Here's the final piece:
So I went to Michael's and started looking around for something off the rack that would work with this piece. Just a tip, but if you're doing your own framing and your options are limited, I think it's much easier to work from the inside out — that is, I chose the mat before I chose the frame.
There weren't many mats to choose from, and there were no custom sizes available in my particular Michael's. But I took the piece with me and held it up behind the mats and figured an 8" x 10" opening would work okay. It wouldn't leave a lot of space on the edges of the piece, but I could figure out the mounting later. (I highly recommend you do not mount your piece until you have chosen the frame and mats. That way you can customize the mounting to the frame. If you mount it first, custom framing will probably be your only option.) Within a few minutes, I found this medium grey mat with a black interior mat:
What I liked about this mat was that the gray was darker than the Kona cotton background of my piece, but the two greys still went well together. And although I don't typically go for black, this subtle touch of black was nice because it highlighted the black centers of the anemones. And at $7, I felt I couldn't go wrong.
Next I had to choose a frame. Again, there weren't a great number of options, but sometimes this can simplify things. Too many options can be paralyzing. I held up the mat and the piece next to all of the 11 x 14 frames until I found one that looked like it might work with both of them:
In this case, the frame was lighter than the mats, but almost a perfect color match to the Kona cotton. Incidentally, it was the only grey frame in the store that matched my piece well. Most were too warm or too cool. If I hadn't found this one, I could have tried Hobby Lobby or Walmart, etc. But once I saw this one, I didn't think I'd find a closer match. It was $52, which was a little high, but it was on a 50% off sale, and I got a 25% off member discount, and I had a 20% off coupon (Michael's always has coupons and sales, so I take advantage of them!).
Full disclosure: At this point, I wasn't entirely sure this frame would work out. But sometimes you have to take a chance. And since the total price for the frame and mat after all my discounts and coupons was a little under $25, I figured it was worth trying it out and seeing if I couldn't make it work.
When I got home, I needed to finish the piece, so I folded a terry cloth hand towel in half and laid it on my ironing board. I put the piece facedown on the towel and ironed the back side with a hot iron. (The towel helps prevent the embroidery from being flattened or crushed. When I lifted the piece up, I could see the imprint of some of my more three-dimensional flowers in it.)
With the fabric all neatly pressed, it was time to mount this piece. Usually, I use foam board and lacing to stretch and mount a piece. But in this case, there wasn't much room in the frame for foam board, and the piece was actually pretty smooth and sans puckering already, so I didn't think it needed the full lacing treatment. A gentle stretch was all it really required.
So I decided to just mount it to the back of the frame with some acid-free permanent double-sided tape (I use Elmer's, and it works great). I positioned it careful on the board and checked its placement within the mats to make sure I had it centered how I wanted it. Then I put the tape on the board and gently tugged and pressed the Kona cotton borders to it until the whole piece was attached and lightly stretched:
It's always hard for me to give away my embroidery, but it's particularly hard now because, as a result of this frame job, I have fallen in love with this piece all over again. And it would go so well in my living room or bedroom. It's just my colors! Still, if I'm this pleased with it, I think (and hope) the person I'm giving it to will be equally thrilled. And 'tis the season of giving and all that other nonsense. 😂
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