After you have sewn your embroidery design, you will need to know how to lock the embroidery canvas to its original shape. It is not a difficult process, but it may take two or three “locks” to get it right. If only it was that easy for us humans, spray some water and we’ll be twenty years old again!
If your design is a square or other regular geometric shape, then you can probably reshape it “visually”. However, if it’s an ornament, doorstop, or some other irregular shape, it’s best to make a paper pattern of the original design before you start sewing. You will use this pattern to guide the embroidery canvas into shape when you lock it. Simply trace the outline of the embroidery design area on parchment paper.
Follow these instructions on how to lock the needle tip:
- Check the color fastness of the threads. Dampen a small area of colored yarn with water and then pat dry with a paper towel. If you have excess thread, use this one, not the stitched threads. If the thread dye comes off the towel, then the threads are not colorfast and you will need to dry lock the needle point by following the instructions below, but skipping all the parts on how to wet the canvas. This is to prevent the dye from “running” into adjacent fibers.
- Spray some clean water on the design area of the canvas to moisten it. I use a spray bottle to do this.
- If you took a pattern from the design, put it on a board of plywood or cork with tacks or nails. The table should be large enough to accommodate the embroidery design. Place the embroidered canvas on the paper that you have placed on the board. If you don’t have a paper tracing, you will place the embroidery canvas directly on the board, so make sure it is clean or cover it with a cloth.
- Now you need to match the outline of the canvas to the outline you drew on the paper, or “look” at it as it was originally; Usually this means turning a parallelogram back into a square or rectangle. This will involve some stretching.
- Starting at a corner, hammer small tacks or nails, or push the tacks around the design, about 1 inch apart, stretching the canvas as you go to match the drawn outline or original shape. It is often necessary to place the tacks less than an inch apart at the corners. You will need to pull quite hard from various angles for the canvas to adjust its shape.
- Let it dry.
- Repeat this process two or three times if necessary until the canvas returns to its original shape.
Another important tip is to spray the finished, blocked tarp with a fabric protector. This will help prevent the canvas from getting dirty and make your work look good. There is little point in learning how to block embroidery if someone spills something on the finished pillow and ruins it. The fabric protector is invisible and will put a moisture shield over the fibers.
