Wash the sizing out of your fabric before you start stitching.

Aaaaarrrgh! I was always taught you never, never, NEVER wash linen before you
start embroidering on it!!! Reason? The linen will shrink slightly the first
time you wash it, at which time the weave will "pull in" enough so that your
starting and ending stitches will be caught even more firmly, and thus are
unlikely ever to come loose.

Sometimes, pieces I have been working on for a long time look like a crumpled
rag by the time I finish, but I rest serene in the knowledge that once it is
finished and laundered, it will look beautiful. Just don't worry about the
wrinkles until every last stitch has been put in, then wash and iron it the way
Dianne says, and it will be gorgeous.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.