Afghan -- more questions....

I hope someone is familiar with the exact fabric you have. I have some afghan fabric (Zweigart) and it ravels extremely easily - which means zigzagging the edges until you're finished embroidering the design.

Actually, a fringed edge would be nice and relatively simple, finished with 4-sided stitch. Otherwise, you can turn under the edge when you apply the backing.

In the meantime, however, if you have a sewing machine, I would definitely zigzag those edges (the selvege edges will be okay without further ado) until you decide what to do. If you don't have a sewing machine, see if a friend can do it for you. Barring that, overcast by hand. Blanket stitch is easy, and you needn't be fussy.

I'm sure others will give you some other ideas to try on for size.

Dianne

Kathy Tabb wrote:

finished

when you

Thanks Dianne! The overcast stitch worked out well to keep the edges from fraying. I was sooooo nervous because I just bought a brand new sewing machine to replace my grandmother's which was vintage

1950. The new one is all electronic and does everything but the dishes. I tried the overcast on some leftover afghan material from another project and it worked easy, so I just finished overcasting the "real" thing. But of course I have another question now...... Where would I put the "4-sided stitch" that you refer to above? I did find a website that described the stitch, but not sure where to place it and how big it should be? At the top of the fringe between the fringe and the fabric, kind of like a border to the fringe? Do you recommend knotting the fringe into clumps of say 4 or 5 threads? Or with the 4-sided stitch, would that be overkill? Do I do that before doing the fringe? Sorry to be such a pest. And I know I have months to figure it out since I'm just starting the cross stitching today. But you've given me great advice and I do appreciate it!

Kathy Tabb

Hooray. Glad you have that accomplished. One less thing to worry about.

You'll be using it to "catch" the fringe - so it's just above it, and the bottom leg goes round the fringe. I made a beautiful wool blanket and fringed all four sides this way. Like you, I couldn't decide how to finish the blanket (it isn't lined), so I decided to fringe using

4-sided stitch.

No need to knot. You'll catch the fringed portion on the bottom leg of the 4-sided stitch. Since you have some afghan scraps, give it a try and you'll see how this works. Do you have directions for 4-sided stitch? That's an easy one. Catch either 4 or 5 threads, depending upon how it looks to you.

Nope. To clarify: you fringe up to a measured amount, then you do the

4-sided stitch and catch up the fringe as you go.

Hope that helps! Dianne