Attach-EZ and silk fabric

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Bill Henry-

Bill Henry-

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I have been presented with a old (not exactly antique) silk which needs to be stretched and framed with a mat.

Because the image on the silk is very close to the border of the fabric (I cannot afford to lose more than 1/4” of it), I cannot stretch it in the usual manner.

If I attempt to use the Attach-EZ Fine Fabric tool to mount this onto 4 ply museum rag, will the gauge of the needle puncturing the silk cause it to run?

If so, any alternative suggestions of how to mount this thing?
 
AEZ might not be a good choice here; the little tab thingies are so much stronger than the silk.

I would use a ball point needle and silk thread to baste the piece to muslin or add muslin strips to the edges. Then you'll have lots of fabric for the stretch. Alternately, you could sew the piece directly to the backing board but I think that's more difficult.

Kit
 
If the silk has a stitched edge (that is to say it has been hemmed) then couch it down with matching silk thread using the existing holes. Place stitches about 1/2 to 3/4 inch apart. If it is showing a raw edge, go with Kit.
 
Attach-EZ is a wonderful tool and useful for many kinds of textile mounts. But this probably isn't one of them. The fine weave of most silk fabrics would be damaged by the tool. And if it's old & fragile, the silk would be damaged more.

I suggest basting the old silk's edges to a piece of washed, unbleached muslin. If the silk has hemmed edges, stitch through the hem.

After basting, stretch the muslin substrate to an alphacellulose mount board, with sanded edges & corners. The usual method is to lace with cotton thread.

You can use Attach-EZ for this part, since the muslin is a disposable backer. Insert the nylon thingys about 1" apart all around the perimeter of the muslin, and then "speed lace" them with cotton thread. It's faster than traditional lacing, but has the best attributes of both methods.

You also could pin the muslin to a piece of foam center board, but I wouldn't.
 
Oh good! Bill isn't a newbie. . . :D

STICK WITCHERY AND WALL BUDDIES, BILL
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<font size=1>Sorry, I just couldn't resist.</font>
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baer
 
Actually Bill, I would do it the way Kit says, with or without the hemmig.

Then I would mount the edges of the new backing out at the edge of the backing board. About a 1" swath of Frank's Fabric Adhesive. Which is heat reactivated.

I would roll on the glue, and let dry. Then arrange the piece centered under the mat. Then carefully iron the backing down to the board, stretching it 12-6-9-3 similar to canvas.

baer
 
Another way is to make a padded, fabric covered backboard, and stitch the silk to that. This way you can keep the stretching to a bare minimum.

The backboard will vary according to the size of the piece, but for a moderately sized textile 8 ply will do.

Cover it with Insulite polyester padding (quilting stores) using double sided tape (e.g. encapsulation tape) at the perimeter. Cover that with an appropriate washed fabric (maybe even silk)wrapped to the reverse of the board and secured with double sided tape.

Center your textile and, using a fine curve needle, stitch the edges of the textile down to the padded backboard. The stitches should be perpendicular to the edges of the textile, and staggered a little bit to distribute stress.

The very fine needles are available from Fine Science Tools http://www.finescience.com/fst/NeedleHolders/12050-20.html

the 00 size are easiest to use.

You can also use insect pins for temporarily holding the silk in place while stitching.

Depending on the textile's weight (I'm assuming it's light weight) you can secure the textile with insect pins instead of stitching. The pins are inserted through the textile, into the padding, so that the shaft runs parallel to the backboard. The head holds the textile in place. You only need to use one every few inches.
http://www.finescience.com/fst/LabAcc/26000-25.html
00 or 000 are the most useful sizes.

The friction between the fabric covered backboard and the textile itself helps hold everything in place.

Rebecca
 
I agree with Rebecca's method. I used the same method on an ancient Chinese silk painting awhile back, and with Rebecca's coaching and tips, it turned out as close to perfect as a one eyed bald ol' framer could ever hope!

The Insulite is very thin and easy to work with. I think that I used an econospace 250 clear to keep the silk from any possibility of touching the surface of the glass.

Framerguy
 
And I apologize for not emailing you and telling you about the final outcome and to say "Thank you"!!

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&lt---- (That's me on the receiving end!!)

Again, Thank you for your time and help, Rebecca, it was greatly appreciated.

FGII
 
I do not recommend that you use Attach-EZ for fragrile, very valuable, or old and brittle frabrics. The needles on both handtools are ball point and will only displace the fabric, not cut it, but for silk you must be very careful. I have used MicroTach on some silks in the past, but for your project I think you would be best to go with Jim or Rebecca's method. Better to be safe than sorry.

If you look in the directions that came with your Attach-EZ kit you will find a method of using the tool to make the sewing job easier when hand sewing is necessary. This method should make the hand sewing process faster as well.
 
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