Step 4 of the process
Finish and care
A finished piece is washed by hand in cold water, pressed face down between towels and then framed or backed in its hoop. Test anything hand-dyed for colorfastness before it gets wet.
- Wash
- cold water, by hand, non-biological detergent
- Dry
- rolled in towels, never wrung
Washing lifts hand oils, hoop marks and water-soluble pen. Rinse the piece under cold running water, wash it gently by hand with a little non-biological detergent, and rinse in cold water until it runs clear. If color starts to run, stop. Branded floss is sold as colorfast; hand-dyed and unbranded floss may not be, so test a few strands first. How to wash cross stitch has the steps.
Never wring the fabric. Roll it between two clean towels, squeeze gently, then let it air dry until it is just damp. Press it face down between towels with a warm iron: the towel underneath lets the stitches sink in instead of being flattened. Never use a hot iron or bleach.
For display in the hoop, trim the fabric to leave a margin, gather it behind the inner ring with a running stitch and cover the back with felt. How to back an embroidery hoop compares four ways, including the ones that can be undone later. For a frame, keep the full margin you cut at the start: mounting needs it.
Ready to move on when: The piece is clean, flat and dry, with no marks left by the hoop or the transfer pen.
Common mistakes at this stage
- Ironing directly on the front, which crushes the stitches.
- Soaking a piece with hand-dyed floss before testing it for bleeding.
- Trimming the margin before deciding between hoop and frame.