june at noon

So, you want to know how to mount an embroidery using the lacing method. Be forewarned that the tutorial you’re about to read is lengthy and quite heavy with photos because I wanted to make it as clear as possible. Don’t let that fool you though; it’s really easy to do.

To start, you’ll need:

• Your finished embroidery with at least enough extra fabric around the embroidered part for wrapping a half inch or so around all four sides of a backing board. Please excuse the marking pen on mine. It wasn’t quite ready for finishing.
• A backing board cut to size. This could be cardboard, foam board, wood—whatever is sturdy enough for your needs. I used foam board for these projects. Do keep in mind that many paper-type products have acid in them, which can erode and discolor fabric over time, so if that’s important to you, make sure you look for something acid-free.
• Sturdy thread or string that doesn’t have much stretch to it. I believe I read somewhere that upholstery thread is good. I used perle cotton, in this case a dark color to make it easier to see in the photos. You basically want something strong enough to withstand some tugging and something that will remain pulled tight when you’re done.
• A needle to suit your thread.
• Optional: Pins to help position your embroidery on the backing board. Alternatively, you could use a spray tack or adhesive, but this is another item that could potentially cause damage to your fabric over time, so make sure you consider that.

So, here we go.

To start, position your backing board on the wrong side of your embroidery. (Please iron your piece first! I was too lazy to do it before I started snapping photos.) You’ll want to get it as close as you can to how you want it to be positioned, but don’t fuss over it too much, because you will be able to do a little bit of wiggling with it to fix something that’s off.

If you don’t mind having an unfinished edge on the back of your piece, then you can simply fold the fabric over the board like this:

(If you do this and want a more finished look, you could always glue or sew a piece of felt over the back to hide the unfinished edges.)

If you’d like a more finished edge, fold the unfinished edge toward the backing board …

… and then bring that folded edge down so the fabric is wrapped over the backing board with the unfinished edge hidden inside (just like making a hem).

I wasn’t concerned with my fabric being super even across the back, but if you want it to be more tidy, you could iron a little crease on the fold to be sure you’ve got a straight line as you start the lacing.

You’re going to fold two opposite sides to start, either top and bottom or left and right.

If you’re using pins, stick them through the fabric into the sides of the board to hold the piece in place.

Now you’re ready to start lacing. Bring your thread up in the fabric near a corner of the backing board, as you see in the photo below.

For this project I chose to tie a knot in the end of my thread, but if you’d prefer not to, just work a couple of back stitches to secure the thread.

It’s up to you how far in from the folded edge you start, although I remember reading somewhere that it’s good to vary this location a little bit as you work your way across so you’re not putting all the strain on one part of the fabric.

Putting your needle down toward the inside of the piece, work one back stitch, maybe a quarter of an inch wide, bringing your needle back up in the same place you started it.

(Note that I tend to switch between right and left hands while stitching, so you may need to reverse the direction of the piece in order to see your stitches moving in the direction you’re accustomed to.)

Now you’re basically going to just work a really long herringbone stitch. Bring your thread across the backing board to the opposite side and put your needle down into the fabric roughly the same distance in from the edge as where you started your back stitch on the opposite side. Bring it back up near the outside edge of the backing board, similar to where you started your thread on the opposite side. You’ll notice this causes the thread to stretch across the board on a slight diagonal.

Now take your thread back across the board to the first side, working another back stitch about a half inch (or whatever you feel works for your project) from the last stitch. See how the threads will begin to cross over each other?

Continue to do this across to the other end of the backing board. Don’t worry about pulling your thread super tight yet. You’ll do that when you’re ready to finish.

If you run out of thread, stop and pull all the stitches nice and tight, make any additional stitches that you’ve got new string length for, and then cut a new piece of thread. Tie the new piece right to the tail of the old piece and continue working as before.

When you’ve reached the end, give your stitches a tug to tighten them all up and finish off with another back stitch and tie a knot, if desired.

Now you’re going to do the same thing on the other two sides. You’ll need to decide how to deal with the corners depending on how bulky your fabric is and what looks good to you.

You could simply fold the edge in and then wrap, just like you did for the first two sides:

Or you could sort of mitre the corners, as below.

Or if your fabric is really bulky, you could cut some of the corner fabric out to reduce bulk. (I’ve chosen not to do this and live with the extra bulk because if I ever want to remove the piece from the backing board and use it for something else, I might want to have all the fabric in tact.)

Then just start lacing like you did for the first two sides.

When stitching in the corners, you might find it helpful to go through all the layers of fabric, including the fabric of the already-laced sides that now lie underneath your folded corners, so they will lie flatter together against the back.

Work your way across and finish just like you did with the first two sides.

And that’s all there is to it! Pretty easy once you’ve made sense of it, right?

I love how this technique provides a neat, finished look to a piece without the need for a frame. It can be hung as-is or placed in a frame with the foam board in place to stabilize or position it. And, really, the back ends up looking pretty cool too.

I hope this has been helpful to you, and please do let me know if there’s anything I can do to improve the tutorial. Now get out there and get embroidering. Happy lacing!