Herringbone sampler framed

My little herringbone stitch sampler is done. It was inspired by the Stitch of the Month currently in progress at the Cape Embroiderers' Guild monthly meetings as well as The Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge on Pin Tangle. My idea was to put my sampler in a small 5"x7" frame so that it didn't end up lying around in a drawer and here I am trying it out in an old photo frame.

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Mmm... no! It looks too squashed in. I think the embroidery needs a bit more space around the edges. So I take another family portrait out of its frame and lay it over the sampler.

This time I like the effect of the unworked linen around the edges. The embroidery  seems to have more breathing space in the bigger frame.

The problem is that when I started the sampler, I was quite certain that it would go into a 5"x7" frame, so I drew a pencil line onto my linen - just beyond the 5"x7" perimeter where I thought it would be covered by the frame. Only now, I have changed my mind! I want to use a bigger frame and the pencil line shows. Its almost impossible to remove a pencil line - if you have any tips about this do let me know - so its onto plan B: a stitched border to cover the pencil line.

The same dark blue thread used in the sampler seems to work best to visually contain the stitches.

And stem stitch makes a neat line.

Finally, I laced the sampler onto a backing board and slipped it into a frame.

That little project didn't turn out quite the way I'd expected, but I did learn a valuable lesson, again. Do not use a pencil to mark your linen unless you are absolutely sure you will stitch over it. In future I will go back to tacking my outlines even if it does take a bit longer. A little patience in the beginning can save a lot of time later on, especially on larger projects and most especially when you are working on a fabulous linen fabric.

Happy stitching!