A little finishing experiment.

 this is something I have considered for some time but kept putting off as I was not sure if it would work.

Would the cross stitch be too thick to go through the machine?

It was a scary prospect for anything that had taken a lot of effort or was headed somewhere in particular.

Then two things occurred at about the same time that spurred me on.

The first, my mother needed a new bookmark (well not not really she has lots, I have made lots and lots, but one did cease to be usable and to me that is the same thing) and the second, it was time for the Secret Stitching Sweetheart blog Hop 2022.

Looking for a likely pattern for the hop I came across a band pattern by  Joan Elliott in a little booklet from Cross Stitch Crazy "Joan Elliott's Summer Collection. And fortuitously there was an edged band of Aida slipped in the booklet I forget when I put it there but it saved me searching out the right thing to sew on. The hearts on the design made it fine for the hop and with butterflies a good fit for my mother.

With the bookmark plan in mind I stitched even closer to the cut edge than ever, indeed I sewed over the edge.

The little booklet that the pattern came in includes patterned paper to use with the finished projects and I used a strip of that to back the bookmark and then I was ready for my experiment.

And out came the laminator.

I have never tried laminating a piece of cross stitch before. It went through just fine and the plastic should protect it from any ink transference from the print in the books it will be used for.

Laminated book mark

I can see various uses for this in the future, using lamination to protect stitching from dust if used as the top of a box, or to make Christmas ornaments.

 Of course my parsimonious nature would not let me use a laminating pouch without it being fully filled. So in went a tiny dragon and some strips of card, left over after I punched out many a heart for making flowers for another project. 

So another two bookmarks for my mother to add to her collection.