Dear Rain, I have added Aida to Aida when I decided to make the pattern
bigger after I've started (yes, I was an idiot!). The bottom line is to obtain a
matching piece of Aida (from the same company, at least), figure out where
best the seam should be placed to be mostly covered with stitches, then sew
the two pieces together by hand using a running stitch through the holes
and matching the holes exactly one to another. When stitching past the
seam, you'll need to keep the seam allowances free and not have the back
legs cross the seam (and, of course, you'll be stitching in the same holes in
which you sewed the two pieces together). You have to stitch very patiently
and carefully. Once the stitching is done, press the seam allowance flat (and
I left about three blocks' worth of seam allowance so as to not have a big
bump along the joining line).
This works best if the stitching extends to the edge of the visible area, or if
you can mat or border the stitched area so that the joined non-stitched
borders of the Aida aren't visible.
I've done the Kingsland sampler as well and although I wasn't thrilled to have
to join materials, it works if one is very, very patient.
The other alternative, if the piece lends itself, is to reduce the stitched area
so that you actually have enough material. Can you leave out some of the
design and still have a unified whole?
I use the added-muslin trick for framing purposes all the time, using a
double thickness of the muslin, since that way the original fabric isn't the
one having the stretching stitches pulling at it. If the original fabric was
actually big enough to stretch using its margins, its margins are
underneath the muslin but not stretched. (If the stretching later wears/pulls
and so forth, one doesn't have to deal with only having a small amount of
original material for restretching as well.) Also, this means I can use pieces
of beautiful (and expensive) fabric that are just barely large enough for the
desired design.
E-mail me direct if you want more specific advice about your particular
piece. Good luck!
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