Covered box finishing for cross stitch smalls.

You will need:

A box

Fabric or cross stitched piece to cover the lid - in this project I used silk that had a paper backing on to allow it to go through the printer, you can buy this fabric over the internet.

I found a lovely vintage Christmas image from the Graphics Fairy Blog here and printed it on to the silk fabric.

Lining fabric for inside the box - I used silk dupion.

Mahogany wood paint/varnish and paint brush.

Wadding for padding the fabric on the lid.

Cardboard for mounting the fabric onto the lid - I used 2mm thick white card.

Thin card for lining the inside of the box.

Cotton thread or quilting thread for lacing.

Glue that is suitable for fabric or wood e.t.c

Trimming for decoration.  

Place the cross stitched piece or printed fabric design face down and place the wadding and then the card on top, lace the fabric with strong cotton thread as shown in the picture.  

I actually backed the silk with cotton fabric because the silk was very fine. Be careful not to pull the threads too tight or it will distort the fabric from the front, keep checking the front of your design whilst you are lacing the fabric onto the card.

  

Do the same across the other side so that it looks like

this and stitch down the corners neatly.

Again, remember not to pull the thread too tight or

your design will become distorted and uneven.

You are now ready to line the box as shown in the photo below.

Draw around the base of your box onto a thin piece of

card- I used a folder divider from a file.

Measure the edge of the box to cut off that amount

around the edge of the card so that it fits snuggly

 inside the box.

This piece of card will be covered with your lining fabric,

in this project I used cream dupion silk.

 

Place the thin card face down but only place glue on

the edge of the card on the wrong side, do not put

glue on the side that will be visible as it may show

 through the fabric.

  

Glue edge like this and trim coners.

Smooth some glue all over the card.

Your lining should now look like this.

Glue the lining on the inside top and bottom of your box.

Now you are ready to attach the top stitched or printed piece

to the top of your box.

Put glue on the laced side, paying particular attention

to the edges, but be careful not to put too much glue on the

edges as you do not want the glue oozing out at the sides.

  

Place the cross stitched or printed piece on the top of

the box and place some magazines on top to weight it down

to ensure it adheres fully to the lid.

This is where you can go and make a nice cup of tea

and put your feet up for half an hour or so!

  

And now for the fun part, gather yourself some nice trim to finish off.This is the most important part of the finishing and you must try not to rush it, as this can make or break the professional finish you are trying to achieve.Start to glue and attach the trim at the point where the join will be least visible, I started at the back of the box in the middle, however you could always put the join at the front and cover with swarovski crytals

or some other decoration.Bring the braid far enough up at the sides to cover where the top meets the box, you do not want a space that can be seen.

 

You should now have a lovely gift for yourself or someone special.

Enjoy!