Paula, my husband made a very good scroll frame for me and he is so bad with
tools I don't let him hang a picture in the house... after he missed the nail
and we had a hole in the wall. You will need 4 stove bolts whick are screws
that have a pointed, a flat center and a flat end, and 4 wing nuts to fit the
flat end. You will also need dowels the size of roller bars in a frame, two
pieces of wood 1 and 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch and the length you want the side
bars. The last thing you will need is very heavy woven tape to staple on the
roller bars. To make the frame you will need a saw, pliers, a drill and a
heavy duty stapler would be nice.

To make it, cut the dowels the width you want the frame. Cut the side pieces
the correct length. Drill a small starter hole in each of the four ends and
insert and screw in the pointed end of the stove bolt.
Cut the side pieces or stretcher bars into the length you want. Drill holes
just a bit bigger than the stove bolts at the top and bottom of each piece, and
another hole near the center to attach it to a frame.
Cut the correct lengths of the tape and staple or use carpet tacks and nail it
on to the dowell. If you have a vise use it to hold the dowell during this
process, but if you don't a second pair of hands would be useful. Your roller
frame is now made. Insert the screws on the roller bars into the holes on the
stretcher bars and use the wing nuts to hold the roller bars in the side
pieces. If this joint slips, you can use some rubber washers. This really
does not take much time, makes excellent roller bar frames and costs a lot less
than the bought ones. Then you can put all of your mad money in a floor frame,
or lap frame.

As to controlling the tension on the sides. Nordic Needle wwwnordicneedle.com
has excellend "stitch clips", for $15.95, item 6934. If I am working something
that will be long enough to wrap the fabric around the roller bars several
times, I fine the unstitched edges get floppy, so I roll a paper towel, just
the width of the unstitched part along with the fabric . The thickness of the
towel is about that of stitching and the tension is fine.

As to a frame, everyone has a different idea. I like both a lap frame and a
floor frame. You will just have to look at them and decide for yourself, or
perhaps a LNS has a scroll frame holder you could try at their store. Good
luck, Boo