Everything about finishing your embroidery

I have already discussed the most important ingredients for embroidery: fabric, thread and needles with you. With this you can make the most beautiful projects! And then comes the next problem... You put all those stitches with a lot of love and pleasure, your embroidery is finished, but what are you going to do with it now? I don't know about your house, but my husband doesn't want all those embroideries on the wall. “It's your hobby,” he says. So I stopped framing embroidery a long time ago. It is also very expensive.

That's why this time I'm going to give you some tips for finishing your projects.

I myself prefer to embroider small projects, precisely because you can finish them easily and in all kinds of ways. I learned a lot about this from Vonna Pfeiffer. This is an American lady whose profession is embroidery finishing! She does this on behalf of people, but she also shares a lot of “Tutorials” (explanation) on her blog and YouTube.

With the help of a beautiful matching fabric you can easily make a cushion. Such a pillow can also be in all kinds of different shapes. Or make a needlebook, bag, biscornu, pindrum (tall, round pincushion), needle roller,… The possibilities are endless!

I have organized the “Pincushion Club” for a number of years and have already made many patterns with instructions for all kinds of small projects.

What is always fun to do is to process an embroidery in or on an object. At some large retail chains they sell all kinds of wooden trays, tea boxes, small boxes or wooden coat racks. These are perfect for making an embroidery.




If you follow me on social media (@soedidee) you may have seen that I have embroidered a round box from the Swedish department store. I have embroidered the lid and the side, the inside is lined with fabric and there are a scissors hanger and pincushion in the box: a whole embroidered set!

With a longer embroidery, such as the Edges, it is also nice to roll your project on a wooden bobbin or something similar. I've even made something on a small rolling pin!

I also like to embroider samplers. These are usually somewhat larger and less suitable for processing into pillows or something. Because I also often take them to fairs and the like, I don't find framing useful either, so I often finish the samplers with an open hem and/or a "mouse tooth".

Lilian Kok from the “Handwerkcafe Waddinxveen” has written a fantastic explanation on the blog on how to do this. Complete with step-by-step photos. I couldn't explain it better.

In the meantime I have also started to indulge myself creatively on the hems and have, for example, embroidered an edge ON the hem. This way the hem forms a frame for your embroidery. Or thread an entire strand of embroidery floss through the holes of the open hem for a colorful addition.

In short; with a little creativity there is a lot to do with your embroidered projects. You can always keep it in a box or drawer!