Cross Stitch Circle Finish

This post is a complete tutorial on how to do a cross stitch circle finish. If I’m being honest, I was completely intimidated by the idea of doing a circle finish. But with just a few tools, it was so easy! I’d almost venture to say it’s easier than a square mounted cross stitch finish.

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Cross Stitch Circle Finish featuring the 12 Star Spangled Ornaments from Fat Quarter Shop. Finished in tart tin ornaments.

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Cross Stitch Circle Finish Supplies

For the circle finish, I had completed all 12 of the Star Spangled Ornaments from Fat Quarter Shop. I used the called for floss and fabric according to the pattern. I also purchased the following items to finish the cross stitch pieces

2.64″ Sticky Circles Mounting Board – 2 packages
Tart Tin Ornament Pack – 2 packages

In addition to those purchases, I used the following items I already had in my sewing room

Cross stitch needle (the same one I used to stitch my pieces)
White embroidery floss – 2 strands for each finished piece
Scissors
Frixion Pen
Scrap pieces of quilt batting
Glue gun and hot glue sticks
Small magnets
Coordinating ribbon pieces

Supplies to finish a round cross stitch piece. This includes, scissors, a frixion pen, round sticky board, batting, and embroidery floss.

Finishing a Circle Cross Stitch – Step by Step

After gathering all of my supplies, I started by using one of the sticky board circles as a template and traced the circle on the back side of my cross stitch piece using the Frixion Pen.

Frixion pen marks will disappear with heat. However, there is some controversy on how well it disappears, and it may not on all fabrics. I only use Frixion pens on areas of my fabric that won’t show on my finished projects.

After tracing the circle, I remove the paper backing from the sticky board circle and adhere it to my scrap piece of batting. Next, I trim the excess batting off of the edge of the circle. To trim the cross stitch piece, we need to leave about an inch of fabric extra on the OUTSIDE of the marked circle.

Tracing circle sticky board on a finished cross stitch piece to make a finished circle cross stitch

Now it is time to stitch a thread line all the way around the perimeter of the cross stitch fabric piece. Keeping two strands of floss together, take both ends and bring them together in the loop method. This will give you all 4 tails of thread together on one side and a loop on the other end. Thread your needle with all four tails of the floss going through the eye of the needle.

Next we can start stitching. Poke your needle down near the edge of the cross stitch fabric and then back up, with the wrong side up facing you. Leave the loop end hanging out on the wrong side. Slide the needle through the loop and gently tighten so you have the thread attached to the cross stitch fabric with the wrong side of the fabric still up towards you.

Now you will make a running stitch of approximately 1/2″ stitches all around the edge of the circle. Try to maintain the same distance away from the edge of the circle.

How to do a running stitch around the outside of a circle of cross stitch fabric to finish it into a tart tin.

After stitching a running stitch around the outside edge of your cross stitch cloth, place the sticky board circle inside of the traced circle. The batting side of the sticky board will be against the back side of your stitched piece. Gently pull the embroidery thread until the edges of the cloth wrap in around the edges of the sticky board.

Flip the piece over and make sure the stitching is centered on the piece. If it’s not you can easily scoot the sticky board around so that it is centered. You can see in the third picture how it was off center at first, but then in picture four I was able to adjust it and pull the embroidery floss tight again.

Finishing a round cross stitch piece by pulling a running stitch tight around a round sticky board.

Lacing the Back of a Cross Stitch Circle Finish

At this point, you are almost finished! You just need to secure the back by lacing the back. This means criss-crossing the remaining embroidery floss across the back to hold it all together. You don’t have to be really specific in where you place these stitches, just zig zag back and forth until the edges lay down and are secured. Finish by creating a knot with the end of your floss. I do this by looping a small stitch through the fabric and pulling the tail through the stitch to create a small knot. Trim the remaining tail of thread.

Lacing the back of a small cross stitch circle to finish the piece.

Finishing the Cross Stitch in a Tart Tin

To finish the round cross stitch into a tart tin, I just use a bit of hot glue and place a thin magnet onto the back of my finished piece. I glued it right over the top of the lacing. Once the glue is cooled, you can pop it right into the tart tin. I like using magnets because if it’s a little crooked, I can easily adjust it. To finish of my tart tins, I tied scraps of ribbon around the twine hanger.