The Framers Forum

I've just taken in a tapestry which has visual detail going right to the edges of the fabric. It does need to be stretched and laced, but the fabric cannot be hemmed at the edges without losing some of the important detail, so I'm thinking about ironing on some fabric with heat activated adhesive onto the back of the tapestry to bond the extensions to the tapestries. I know that there are framers that do this, but I don't know what they use.

Can anyone please advise me about this.

Thank you in anticipation.
Mark

Ironing heat activated adhesive onto the back of any needle art is not something I would want to do. You are fundamentally changing the piece of work by doing that. Sewing extensions to allow for lacing does give the option of removing them at a future date and returning the piece to its original state. If this really is the only option then it would be for the customer to do this in my opinion, but it is not something I would suggest to them. You also run the risk, because of the heat needed, that you would flatten the fibres spoiling the overall appearance.

Is this actually tapestry or needlepoint and how big is it? What are the edges like at the moment, how are they finished? Does it need to be laced or could another method of support be used which would allow you to display all the edges? Is it to be mounted or close framed? Could you sew it to a larger fabric piece using hidden stitches in the detail of the work and then lace that fabric?

I'm personally not aware of any framer who backs needle art with adhesive fabric so cannot advise on what they might use. The only time I've ever used any was to mend the knees on my son's school trousers when he was in primary school.

Thanks Jo,

It seems that I heard about something similar being done before, but after checking this appears to be a method of extending boards on cheap oil painting mass produced for tourists. I already have some suitable cloth of adequate quality and a good match for this particular colour as well, so I will sew it on to this piece of support cloth in the manner you suggest during our earlier phone call.

Referring to the flag which I spoke to you about earlier, after having a really careful look at it, I'm pretty sure that it is silk and considering it's condition and the amount of difficult support stitching, I won't be offering to undertaking any of the support stitching myself.

I now longer have a flat bench top big enough to lay this totally flat and besides this, I really don't fancy doing this with something this large and so in need of extensive repair and support stitching. The silk on this flag is basically falling apart and the more it is handled, the worse I think it will get.

Hi Mark

No problem and glad I was able to help during our call with both of the projects we discussed.

As I mentioned I'm happy to put your customer in touch with the fabric conservator we work with and recommend and considering the condition of the standard I think that is definitely the best approach at this stage. I will wait for you to discuss the options with them and to find out how they want to proceed.

No doubt we will speak about it again soon.