Beggars can't be choosers

Last time I talked at length about my love for tidy edges of my stitching fabric, and a serger as the tool du jour to attain the state of neatness nirvana. Well... A serger was an industrial piece of equipment I couldn't dream possessing while growing up - home sergers were not in the picture then. A serger was a $300 chunk of money I didn't have while surviving on pennies a day in college. I bet, a great deal of stitchers out there are in the same boat - just enough money to keep our expensive stitching hobby going, but not enough for fancy machinery. What a poor stitcher to do, but to drop on one's knees and weep in desperation surrounded by fraying fabric! Enough, with the drama, I say! Nothing should hinder one's ability to dive head first into the thready goodness of a new project! Enter three relatively inexpensive (two of them outright dirt cheap) ways of keeping one's canvas in check:

• The cheap, but somewhat laborious way - hand-sewn blanket stitch (you can also use a simple overcast stitch, however, I find that I tend to over tighten it making the fabric curl).

• The more expensive, but faster way - zig-zag stitch on a sewing machine (it doesn't have to be a fancy one - most machines will have some sort of zig-zag setting).

• The cheap and fast way  - acid-free artist tape (acid-free is the key, if you want your masterpiece to last). 

I used the last method often in my art-student years, as the tape was a staple in my tool box, I had no access to a sewing machine and no patience for the hand-sewn blanket stitch. Yes, the edges do get a little funky, if you are like me and drag your projects along everywhere you go. However, most of my pieces were framed, so the bound edges ended up at the back of the mounting board. As long as the tape is acid free you don't have to worry about your fabric yellowing with time. You can also cut the bound edges off altogether right before you mount your work. 

Cry no more, dear stitcher! Neatness nirvana is within your reach! Grab your needle, sewing machine or acid-free artist tape and charge ahead! The ram says you should.

Until we meet again, happy stitching!