Finishing Touches: Running Stitch & Whip Stitch Backing
You’ve just finished a big cross-stitch project. It looks beautiful from the front, and you’re excited to display it on your wall. You turn over the hoop to look at the back when you realize that it’s an absolute mess. How are you going to hang your hoop? And how are you going to trim the excess fabric so it looks nice and neat from the front?
There are a lot of ways to finish the back of your cross-stitch project. In this post, we’ll look at two ways to trim the excess fabric in your hoop and finish off the back. A quick running stitch will gather the fabric on the back to get it out of the way, and you can also whip stitch a felt backing onto it to hide the backside of your stitching. The pictures I’ve included here are of one of the first hoops I finished using this method. As we walk through the steps, I’ll teach you how to finish off your hoop as well as point out some of the issues with the project I’ve included here. Let’s get stitching!
supply list
Your finished pattern
The embroidery hoop you want to display it in—this project is framed in an 8” hoop'
Fabric scissors
Stiffened felt—this will keep its shape and provide more structure to the back of your hoop. Regular felt also works, but it might be harder to stitch it taut.
A pencil or pen—I used a white gel pen so I could see my markings on the black felt
Embroidery floss or sewing thread—use the same color as your felt for stitches that blend in, or try using an accent color for something a little more fun!
Sewing needle
running stitch
The quickest way to tidy up your hoop is to gather the fabric on the back using a running stitch. This still leaves the backside of your project exposed, but it pulls the excess fabric to the back so the project looks neat from the front. You can only follow this half of the tutorial if all you’re looking to do is tidy up the hoop, but it’s also the first step to adding the felt backing.
Position your project in the embroidery hoop you want to display it in. Make sure you’ve tightened the outer ring as much as possible and that your project is straightened out. Don’t be afraid to use a ruler to make sure that your stitches are straight and that the metal knob at the top isn’t off center.
Trim the excess fabric around your hoop. I left around one inch around this project, but you might be able to see this excess fabric from the front in the final pictures. I recommend leaving around half an inch instead of the full inch illustrated in these photos.
Cut a length of embroidery floss or sewing thread that’s about 12 inches longer than the circumference of your hoop and thread your needle.
Pull your needle through the underside of the fabric, leaving a tail of thread about 4-6 inches long on the inside of the hoop. Don’t tie off this end; we’ll knot the two ends of the thread once the running stitches are done.
Push your needle back through the topside of the fabric about half an inch to the side off where you pulled your needle from the back. Continue to create half-inch running stitches following steps 4 and 5 until you’ve stitched around the entire hoop.
Unthread your needle and cut the remaining thread into a tail that’s about 4-6 inches long.
Pull the two tails of thread tight to gather the fabric on the backside of the hoop.
Tie the two tails of thread together, making sure the thread remains taught so the fabric stays gathered. Trim the ends of the knot once it’s secured.
whip stitch
I use whip stitch to finish off my hoops when I add a felt backing. There are other types of stitches you can do that are more decorative or neat, but I find that whip stitch gets the job done quickly. Plus, if you use a thread that blends in with the felt color you decide to use, the stitches are barely noticeable.
Trace the inside ring of your hoop onto your stiffened felt and cut it out using fabric scissors.
Cut a length of embroidery floss or sewing thread that’s about double the circumference of your hoop and thread your needle. Knot the end.
Pull the needle through the underside of the gathered fabric a quarter of an inch in from the hoop. Pull it through your felt circle (marked side down to hide any pen left on the felt) a quarter of an inch in from the edge.
About a quarter of an inch to the side of your thread, push the embroidery hoop through the cross-stitch project fabric and through the felt to create a diagonal stitch. Continue this process around your entire hoop.
To create straight stitches around your hoop instead, push your needle through the cross-stitch project fabric above where the thread comes out on the felt, then pull it out through the felt diagonally.
To finish off the hoop, push under one of your existing whip stitches to create a loop and pull the thread through. Repeat this again to create a sturdy knot and trim the excess.
That’s all there is to it! The running stitch and whip stitch methods are both quick, easy ways to finish off your embroidery hoop. There are other stitches that are more neat and decorative, but if you’re looking for something simple, these two methods will do the trick. Happy stitching!
