Borders all round I say

Two strategies are available as a last ditch effort to save a piece. Well OK, three if you include filing in the recycle bin. In this case I was happy with the original composition so cropping was not the answer. I had two difficulties with these pieces.

First, both had the dreaded wavey edges. Adding an envelope on the back with foam core inserted certainly solved that problem, but did nothing to address the second problem & what I call their 'lack of presence' when hung on the wall. They looked small and puney.

Adding a heavy weight denim canvas border solved this aspect in my eyes. Only a couched outline of crochet cotton was added to Village Square. However, le Shopping got several additions: additional beige zippers were added to the original composition before the denim border. When playing with the 'what if I added a tie border' I discovered that I liked the unintentional curve of the tie around the top RH corner. The tie tips were intriquing too. This is one tie I didn't rip apart.

I've included the 'before' as well as 'after' photos. Hard to tell what they look like hanging on the wall of course. And if you're really observant, you'll notice that the first photo has some of the embroidery pinned on and not stitched. Also missing other elements. Guess I knew that it would never please me as it was 'cause it appears I never took another picture when all the stitching was done.