Our bookmark bases are not made of fabric and therefore not at risk of fraying so you finishing the edge is not necessary. However, if you’re looking to add a decorative border to the edge, here is one way to do that.
Using a Whip Stitch
A whip stitch is a beginner stitch. It can be done with two, three or four strands of floss because the strands are not folded over when threaded. Be aware though, adding more strands will increase the difficulty because you are fitting more thread into spaces that already have thread in them. But it is still very do-able to use 4 threads.
Here is an example of the coverage and look of the different strand amounts:
How to do a Whip stitch
A few tips when doing a whip stitch:
Unlike with cross stitch, the floss is not folded over before threading. Only one end of the floss gets threaded (the needle should be ~3-5" from one end)
Instead of starting in a corner, start in the middle of a side. That way you will get the best coverage for the tail and you will finish in a spot that is easy to tie off at. If you end at a corner it could be more difficult to get a sturdy tie off
Ideally, do at least three stitches for each corner, one for each side and one in the middle.
You can trim any visible bits of the tail after you finish stitching
If using floss provided in our kit, the following colors can be used for the border:
De Mode:
414 (Dark Steel Gray): Enough to do up to a 3 strand whip stitch
5200/E940 (White/Glow in the dark): If you plan on using the same white as you used for the base of the bookmark, you will have enough to do up to a 3 strand whip stitch of that same floss. If you use the other white to do the border, you can do up to a 4 strand whip stitch.
3713 (Very Light Salmon): You will have enough to do up to a 4 strand whip stitch
Colorflage:
415 (pearl Gray): Up to a 4 strand whip stitch
3810 (Dark Turquoise): Up to a 3 strand whip stitch