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Friday 14 November 2014

Cross Stitch Bookmark

I wasn't sure what I was going to post today but then I managed to have a finish so I decided to show you how I like to finish my cross stitch bookmarks. I finally completed the tiki bookmark that I bought in New Zealand when I was there in July. It was very close and when I grabbed it out of my bag it didn't take long to complete.



Doesn't it look gorgeous all finished with the back stitch and for once I finished the stitching today and managed to finish the piece today as well. That has to be a record for me too actually finishing finishing something the day it is finished!

Step 1

 

Gather all your supplies together. 
You will need: 
  • Your finished bookmark
  • Fabric Scissors
  • Felt
  • Fabric Glue (I really like the glue pictured above)
Step 2

Cut out the felt starting by making it bigger than the bookmark then slowly making slightly thinner than the sides. You want it longer than your cross stitch to start with and you will cut it down later.

See the picture below:


Step 3
 Trim down the ends of the bookmark so only about 1cm or so is left at each end. Fold one end up and make sure it is glued up before placing glue along the bottom and then halfway up the sides.

 Step 4
 Carefully place the felt on so that it lines up slightly above the bottom of the bookmark. Make sure it is even on both sides then press it onto the glue.

Now you can fold down the top of the bookmark and glue it down.

Step 5

Before you glue the rest of the felt trim the top, of the felt, so that it sits just below the edge of the bookmark.

You can see below what it should look like.


Then glue the felt down like you did for the rest of the bookmark.

Step 6

 Show off your finished piece!

This shouldn't take you long to do. It only took me about 5 minutes to cut and glue it. The longest part was having to go to spotlight to get some more glue because mine had dried up at the worst possible time! I use this glue all the time and it seems to hold really well ... until I leave it with the lid slightly undone.

Hope this helps you to make your own bookmark in time for christmas. It could make quite a lovely gift for the book lover in your family.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

ETA:
I had a question about the tiki pattern. It was a kit I bought at a souvenir shop in Wellington. It's manufactured by CraftCo Limited. It's called 'Tiki' by Lyn Manning.
I hope that is enough information for you to find it.

13 comments:

  1. Wonderful tutorial - love your finish!
    xxx

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  2. Congrats on the great finish Caitlin. I love the way you finished it with the felt.

    Linda

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  3. Oh it's lovely! I'm 1/2 Maori and I would love to stitch that for my dad. Could you tell me who published the pattern, so I can see if I can order it?

    Thx!

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  4. What a cute finish!
    Great tutorial. It's so detailed and clear.

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  5. Brilliant tutorial, I wish I had read this about 2 months ago when we were struggling to finish Rachael's bookmark. It's a gorgeous design too. xx

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  6. Lovely finish and a great tutorial :-)

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  7. That looks great. Thanks for posting the finishing tips, I'm working on a bookmark now and I found that really handy.
    xo Alicia

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  8. It's a lovely tutorial. Your bookmark is really nice. I wonder how you do the sides of the bookmark. Did you sew something extra or do you make buttonhole stitch?
    Thx :)

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  9. Hi, how did you do the sides? I thought about just glueing them behind like the other edges. I don't think it would look nice but I can't find anywhere how to do it by stitching :(

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    Replies
    1. In the case of this piece the fabric I used is called aida band and the edges are done for me. If you haven't used aida band you have options, you could glue the edges under like this. Or you could cut around the whole piece and fray the edge deliberately and glue it like that. Here are some ornaments I've finished like this that may help you see. https://www.naughtscrossstitches.com/2012/12/more-finish-finishing-d.html

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  10. Thank you for this. I wanted to make some bookmarks for my grandchildren and this is such a nice way to finish them. Plus, it looks pretty easy!

    ReplyDelete

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