Crocheted Names Part I

Framerguy

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Apr 12, 2001
Posts
7,261
Loc
Destin, Florida
I have had numerous emails regarding my methods for laying out, mounting, and framing crocheted names. I don’t think that my methods are any different from other framer’s methods but I suspect that some newer framers haven’t had anyone show them how to do this kind of work correctly.

I happened to have a customer bring in a crocheted name so I will attempt to use some rather bad photos and my limited vocabulary to illustrate how this is done. Because it involves a lengthy explanation, I will do the layout and stitching in one thread and the matting and framing in a second thread.

The crocheted name measured 26” long by 7” high. When you measure these names, try to stretch them just enough so that they will be taut but not pulled out of shape. They must not sag when they are hung on the wall. It was done with white crochet thread so that is the material that we will use to stitch it onto the board. I decided to leave a margin around the stitched name of about ½” all around and the mat width on the sides and ends will be 2”. You should check on how small a mat width your brand of oval cutter will handle as that is important when you cut the ends of the top mat as I will illustrate later on. My Fletcher 1000 will not go below 1 ¾” so I must keep that in mind when laying out the design for these pieces.

Material list:

 Crescent #7132 Whisper for the top mat
 Crescent #1562 Sable for the back mat
 Scrap foam core for spacer material
 Cotton crochet thread of the appropriate color
 Tapestry needle or other type of blunt end needle
 Glass
 Frame moulding
 Miscellaneous supplies for attaching, gluing, and finishing the piece

With the length of the name, the margin, and the mat width, the finished size is 31”long by 12” high. First thing to do is to size your matboards. For this project we do not have to cut the back mat smaller than the top mat because it is going to serve as our mounting board and will be handled separately from the top mat.

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1. Once the boards are sized to 31”x12”, take the mat that the name will be mounted on (the dark brown Sable mat in this case) and turn it over face down. We are going to place pencil marks at the approximate position that the name will be mounted. I do this by adding the width of the mat (2”) plus the width of the margin (1/2”) and I draw pencil lines on all 4 sides at 2 ½”. Then mark the middle of the sides on these pencil lines (as illustrated) to give you some guide marks to line up the name.

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2. Place the crocheted name face down on the back of the board. Most of these names are not even from one end to the other so you want to mark the pinning position exactly as it will be on the face of the board. Hence, we lay out on the reverse of the board with the name face down and mount on the face of the board with the name face up. (I use Moore brand push pins to pin down the crochet) Start by pinning the ends on the center line marks. Use your judgement as to how to do this as some names have 1 point on the very end and some have 2 points on the very end. This name was done in very small points around the edge so it is harder to lay out than one with large points. Locate the beginning of the sides (where the ends and the long sides merge) on each end and count towards the middle to find the middle of the name. Pin that on the center point of one of the long sides. Do the same for the other long side.

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3. Now, using your best judgement begin pinning each point down so that the name is even from top to bottom and end to end. I usually start by pinning the ends of the long sides down and then pinning every other point until I arrive at the middle. Then I go back and pin the ones that I missed. On this example, I only pinned every other point because of their small size and the fact that I am too lazy to stitch all those little points in place!
4. After you have the sides pinned down, pin each of the ends. If they are crocheted in a round shape, try to pin them in a nice arc towards the pin in the center of the end. If they are straight (shaped like an arrowhead), try to keep them as straight as possible. When you are done, you should be able to pick up the board and hold it vertically without the name sagging anywhere.

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5. Now, pull all of the pins out and reverse the board. Place the name face up on the face of the board and tack it down with a few pins to hold it in place. We don’t need to re-pin the entire name on this side. Measure the amount of crochet thread that you will need to stitch down the name (I lay out enough thread on the name to encircle the outside of the name with about a foot to spare) and thread it onto your blunt point needle. You can start stitching anywhere you like. (I am left handed so I start on the left end and stitch to the right) Run the needle up through one of the holes that was made by the pinning, through the correspo9nding point for that hole, then back down through the same hole. Move your needle over a few threads when you go back down through the same hole and don’t pull that loop too tight. You risk pulling the threads of the name through the hole. Leave about 4” or 5” of “tail” hanging from the back side of the board to tie things down at the end of the stitching.
6. Simply continue sewing each point down by passing the needle up through the next hole, through the end of the next point, jumping over a few threads and back down through the same hole. Continue around the name until you come back to the starting point. When the last point is stitched down, take your needle and pass it through the loop on the back side of the mounting board that goes from your first point to your second point and back through the last loop that you made (the loop that runs from the last point to the next to last point. Take the “tail” that you left hanging at the start, tie a knot in it and the remaining thread. I try to pull this fairly taut. Make an additional knot and snip off the excess thread that is left.

Your mounting is now complete and should look like this:

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Next thread will deal with cutting the top mat, spacing it up from the crocheted name, and final framing.

Framerguy
 
Great job Tom. I have a crocheted "Lord's Prayer" that Joe's Grandmother did. Man, that thing is huge!

Betty
 
Very informative Tom.............you should publish some of this stuff you share with all of us. I used to do tons of those things. There was a company that was making them for you custom made with your name on them. We got a rash of them at the store I was working at at the time.

Betty, I have had to mount a couple of those "Lords Prayers" myself. They are humongous. Very nice done up though.
 
This is great, Tom. I live in probably the crochet name/picture capital of the world. You name it, they have probably crocheted it here, in every size from little bitty to oversized, and I've had to frame it. They aren't hard to do, just tedious after a while.

[ 01-27-2003, 09:45 PM: Message edited by: fttom ]
 
Thanks for the information - you are the "guy". The women of the Amana Colonies did these all the time and often times in German. For a fellow with only a couple years experience, they take me a "ton of time" to do right .. but there is so much pride in the families of the recepients of these, that it is well worth the effort.

Wally
 
Crocheted Lords Prayers

Thanks that info helped alot. I just opened a frame shop in tx and I was about to start to frame a "lord prayer" and it is huge. Does anybody have a picture of your finished work on a "lords prayer"?
 
Great information. Would you mind sharing what your price would be for this mounting? (Estimate is good.) Thanks!

P.S. Do you ever starch them lst?
 
psst... sue, you may have to wake frameguy up... he posted this in 03
Oh and don't starch it
 
Thanks that info helped alot. I just opened a frame shop in tx and I was about to start to frame a "lord prayer" and it is huge. Does anybody have a picture of your finished work on a "lords prayer"?



Welcome to the Grumble, frametastic. You were really digging deep into the archives to find that one!!

I'm afraid that has to be answered by Betty Newman, "The Lord's Prayer" was her project. I did post another series on the Madonna and Child cross stitch that was quite large but I don't remember how far back that was posted. You might like to run a search in the Archives for "needleart" or "cross stitch" and it and all the other posts on either one of the search terms should show up.


Great information. Would you mind sharing what your price would be for this mounting? (Estimate is good.) Thanks!

P.S. Do you ever starch them lst?

Estimate after 3 years??? Uh, ................ under a thousand dollars?? ;) My memory isn't nearly that sharp but I'll try to find it on my POS when I go back to work tomorrow.

(Did you happen to check Part II of that thread on the framing and finishing of the crocheted name?? I may have mentioned something about the general cost in that thread. It will vary according to the frame moulding of course. And your labor rate for doing the stitching onto the back board.)

Dave is absolutely correct, no starch, ever!! Most starch will yellow over time and will discolor most any light colored or white fabric or needlework. I would expect that it also affects all colored cloth but I don't have any information to verify that for you.

Framerguy
 
Oh, I'm so embarrassed! :o :o

I didn't notice this was an old thread - before my time! Please don't laugh too hard! :icon19: :icon19:

I did learn something. I was taught to use liquid starch and I always have but not after today. Thanks!
 
Oh, I'm so embarrassed! :o

I didn't notice this was an old thread - before my time! Please don't laugh too hard! :icon19:

I did learn something. I was taught to use liquid starch and I always have but not after today. Thanks!

Well don't feel bad, Sue, I am still embarassed because I had to read that old thread to refresh my memory as to what I actually said and whether it still held true!!

Tell ya what, you laugh at me, I'll laugh at you, and we'll both have a great laugh!!!



Deal??

FGII
 
I had to do The Lord's Prayer last year. Whew! Wish I'd taken pictures too. One of the hardest crocheted pieces I've ever done. I did it similar to Framerguy's method. I found myself saying that prayer a lot while I was working on it!

All I could think of was all the time and skill that went into crocheting that piece, and wanting to do it justice. Very satisfying when finished, knowing it would be a family heirloom.

Sue, isn't it amazing what we learn here? I love it!
 
I've done several of those Lord's Prayer crochet pieces too. They are huge. it really bugs me when the lines and letters aren't straight, so I do a lot of sewing. It's worth it!
 
Framerguy
Very well done. Pictures are the key to explaining things and making it fun. We seem to get a rash of the names around October/ November. I have not yet done a large Lord's Prayer. I'll watch for one...
 
NO STARCH!!!!

They are correct, you don't want to use starch in ANY framing project. Not only will it yellow, but it is a form of sugar, and will attract BUGS! So, please, no starch.
 
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