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A great way to showcase your crochet photo pattern masterpiece is to frame it and hang it on the wall in a prominent place in your home. You’ll have friends and family oo-ing and ah-ing and telling you what a great artist you are.
Framing your crochet photo pattern piece is easy to do. I’m going to show you how in this blog post. Read the entire blog post first so that you understand all that’s involved before you begin to frame your piece.
Framing Materials
Let’s first take a look at everything you’ll need to frame your crochet photo pattern piece:
Stretcher bars make it easy to create a wooden frame for your piece. You’ll need four of them to construct the frame: two will match the width of your piece plus one inch; the other two will match the length of your piece plus one inch.
Measure the width and length of your crochet photo pattern piece, not including the border. Purchase stretcher bars that are one inch wider and longer than your piece. This will allow you to achieve a tight stretch over the frame and prevent your piece from sagging in the middle.
Heavy duty staple gun and 3/8” staples
You’ll use these items to staple the border of your crochet photo pattern piece to the frame. Using 3/8” staples ensures that the border is securely attached to the frame.
A hammer
You may need to use a hammer as you are assembling the stretcher bars into a frame. See Step 1 below for details.
A clean, flat surface to work on
Choose a large surface that will allow you to easily work on your piece. You should be able to spread it across the entire working surface with some room to spare.
A friend to help you
I’ve framed a small piece by myself, but if your crochet photo pattern piece is large, you’ll need a friend to help you. As you’ll see in the photos below, my friend Lynette helped me frame the portrait I did of her and her husband.
Step-By-Step Guide to Framing Your Crochet Photo Pattern Piece
Before you begin, make sure your piece has a border around the image. You’ll need one to stretch over the frame. If it doesn’t have one, follow these instructions to add the border.
Once the border is in place, you’ll be ready to start framing.
Step 1: Assemble your frame.
Your four stretcher bars have slots on each end.
Slide these slots together to construct the frame according to the dimensions of your piece. The assembled frame should either be a square or a rectangle.
Make sure the bars are secure within the slots. Use a hammer to gently tap the corners into place.
Your frame should look like this when the stretcher bars are completely assembled.
Step 2: Snip the ties along the outer edges of the piece.
If you used the “cut and tie” method to change colors, you’ll have lots of ties on the back of your piece.
Snip the ties closest to the border down to about ¾” so they don’t get in the way while you’re framing. Don’t cut them too close to the knot or they might slip through to the other side.
Step 3: Spread your piece on your working space.
The back of the piece should be facing you. Center the frame over the piece, combing the ties to the inside of the frame. The outer edges of image should align as closely as possible with outer edges of frame.
Step 4: Stretch the border over the frame and staple.
Here’s where you’ll need help. One person stretches while the other staples.
Start on one side and stretch the border over the frame. Make sure the outer edge of the image aligns with the outer edge of the frame.
Place one staple in the center of that side. You’ll be stapling the border to the back of the frame. Next, place a staple on either side of that center staple.
Now go to the opposite side and do the same thing. You will have to stretch the border to cover the back of the frame, again making sure that the outer edge of the image on this side aligns with the outer edge of the frame.
Remember, your frame is 1” wider and longer than the image, so you’ll need to stretch the piece to fit the frame properly.
Repeat this step on the two remaining sides. You should have three or four staples in the center of each side.
Step 5: Continue adding staples to each side.
Return to the side you began stapling and place a staple on either side of the last staples you placed there. Do the same on the opposite side and the two remaining sides.
Occasionally look at the front of the piece to make sure you are aligning the image correctly over the frame.
Continue stapling in this manner until you reach the corners.
Step 6: Staple the corners into place.
The corners are a little tricky because you have a lot of fabric to staple down securely. Here’s how we stapled the corners.
Gather the edges together and pinch them.
Open the center of the pinched fabric.
Fold that center piece down and staple inside the groove. That’s where the least amount of fabric will be.
Repeat these steps for the other three corners.
Step 7: Make final adjustments as needed.
Take a final look at the front of your framed piece. If any part of the border is showing on the front, stretch the border so that the outer edge of the image aligns with the outer edge of the frame. Staple the border into place on the back of the frame.
Keep doing this until none of the border shows on the front of the framed piece.
That’s all there is to framing your crochet photo pattern piece. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below.
And CLICK HERE to find out how to order a crochet photo pattern.
