The Framers Forum

So, interesting projects in at the moment.
The child's jacket, they would like to be double sided (of course..), so I'm thinking a magnetized double fronted frame, as Tudor Rose does, but how to support the jacket. Apart from a zero-gravity encapsulation method with my magic wand, I'm not sure at all. Any ideas??

The shawl is to be repaired and mounted into a triangular frame (again, of course!)
So I'm thinking, as Jo suggested on Rainbow's scarf post, stretch a donor fabric over bars, and to get my wife to spend hours stitching it back into shape onto the donor fabric (luckily she absolutely loves jobs like this). I may need some advice, if anyone has any tips on lacing over a triangle...
Construction-wise, I'm a triangular frame virgin and no, I don't remember much of those maths lessons from last century. Any tips on angle calculations??

The jacket, as laid out in the pics is 700mm x 200mm.
The shawl is approx is 1.25m x 600mm.

Great projects to do Justin (I flipped your photos for you ).

For the jacket - because of the very boxy shape of it I'd be looking at created a padded pole, slotted into the sides of the frame (on the inside) itself. The jacket can then be support stitched to that in various places so that it is supported but not under a lot of tension. Lightly done tensioning threads at various points into the fillets to stop it flapping around, but again not too tight. Then the double sided frame with magnets as you've seen us do before. If they don't want the sleeves fully out, then the adapted wood hanger method (like you saw on the leather jacket we did) of support would be best.

For the shawl, you say it is going to be repaired - is that what they are expecting you to do, or is a conservator doing that for you? I can see why they want a triangular frame, but it might be worth having a conversation with them about creating a more natural shawl shape for display. You could adapt hangers, again padding them and then drape it naturally as if it is across shoulders and around a neck. You could show it from the front or back viewpoint, or even do another double sided frame like the jacket. Support stitching it onto some kind of fabric liner (such as monofilament that is supportive but discrete) could still be done if using that method, so that it has overall support.

Your alternative of stitching it to donor fabric and a triangular frame is perfectly doable too if that's the preferred method. I wouldn't try to lace it over a triangle - make up a wood framework, varnish or line it with mountboard strip where it touches the fabric, then staple the support fabric around it like a canvas. One the support fabric is in place you can easily place the shawl and stitch through.

Jo, when you say "a padded pole" (which will be visible at the chest) do you mean fabric wrapping the pole?
"Lightly done tensioning threads at various points into the fillets to stop it flapping around"... Do you mean into the spacers?? What fillets?
Shawl- not a conservator, I suggested that Erica could "repair" it by sewing/securing it to a donor fabric. There are a lot of flappy bits which would need fixing down.
"Your alternative of stitching it to donor fabric and a triangular frame is perfectly doable too if that's the preferred method. I wouldn't try to lace it over a triangle - make up a wood framework, varnish or line it with mountboard strip where it touches the fabric, then staple the support fabric around it like a canvas. One the support fabric is in place you can easily place the shawl and stitch through."
I was thinking that due to the unknown amount of stretch in the shawl ( and therefore it's final size), it would be better to stretch a much larger piece of donor fabric to a sacrificial frame, sew the shawl to it, then cut down the donor fabric to fix to the final stretcher frame?

Padded pole - yes
Into spacers - yes
Don't think stretch - think support - and yes you could just do it that way on a rectangular framework and then swap it to the triangular one. My only concern in this instance would be the differing tension between what you can achieve for the support fabric on a rectangular one as opposed to triangular as you are putting the weave of the support fabric under very different tension situations, but it would probably be fine and is just me being over cautious. Alternatively, if you use monofilament as your support to get it stabilised and you should have your final size pretty much sorted at that point, ready to attach to the tensioned support fabric.

It's a time consuming thing, I hope you are charging accordingly!

For the triangular frame, don't beat yourself up with angles and geometry.

Place the shawl onto a sheet of mount board.
Draw the 3 lines to define the SIGHT size of the art.
Measure the angles using a school protractor.

Use R&H F9, laid on its side as the vertical sides for the frame.
Use F4 laid on top to be the front face - this gives you a rebate width of 9mm.

Buy a NEW saw from Screwfix, Cardigan for about £9 or £10
Cut the angles on the timbers with the new saw using a block of wood to keep the saw vertical.
The wood will cut like butter.

Clamp up the F9 frame first and cross-pin when dry.
Next, fix the top F4 over it and when the glue to that has dried fill all the joins with 2 x part wood filler.
You could add F2 along the outside top face to add some interest.
Then paint the frame to suit.

I make quite a few triangular frames. The first time I adjusted my Morso angle. Never again! It took ages, ended up with bad joins, and it took weeks for me to get the Morso exactly back to normal!

I then started to use the disc sander. Cut on the Morso, and then adjust the angle with the sander. Join on the Hoffmann.

As Dermot says, don’t worry too much about getting the angles perfect, lay the pieces out how you want them and use a pencil line, sand it to the approximate angle, and make the first joint, then you will see if you need to adjust the other two.

For the jacket, a foam board or whatever insert/former as per a sports shirt but TWO the same

Make corresponding channels in each one which you lay acrylic rods or whatever in, there’s plenty of things you could use but acrylic rods are a bit less conspicuous. Then glue the two formers together with the rods glued in place first.

These rods would come out of the sleeves, one each should do, then two out of the base and two out of the neck.

There should be no stitches required. If the jacket doesn’t open it might be a bit tricky getting an insert with rods sticking out inside it - you might have to assemble it all, or partly, inside it.

You can then make a spacer frame and the rods would fit in to holes in that,