BIG silk

[ChrisW]

OK..... we've all done those wonderful little chineese silk embroderies. They can be annoying but.... it's work. Well I've a client that has brought me the mother of all silks, this thing is 40" x 50" and has spent its life folded like a map! Any ideas on how to get the creases out? We've designed a $800 frame to go around it so I'd be against handing it back.

 

[ArtLady]

Hi Chris,

We had a customer bring in two large hand painted silks 32"X40" from India to frame. After consultation with the PPFA we decided to stitch two inch silk borders as per the needlepoint books and laced the piece around 8 ply rag matboard. In addition, since we own the tiny serger by singer we serged the edges of the join where the extensions joined the silk piece. And we serged the edges of the extensions to prevent unraveling. It turn out fantastic. We then matted and framed them. Total cost for both $1600.

On another large silk project 30"X30" we stitched the silk to another full but larger piece of silk and laced it again as we would a needlepoint over 8ply rag.

Another project where the customer wanted a less expensive option, we installed a white piece of silk like a canvas over a strainer and tacked to the back. We needed to use the white silk to prevent the stretcher bars from being visible through the sheer silk piece. Then we attached the silk piece and stapled it to the back so the customer did not have to purchase a frame. The customer viewed this piece as decorative. otherwise we would have laced it to the stretch bar frame.

Hope these help.

Good luck. Let us know the outcome.

I remain

AL

[This message has been edited by ArtLady (edited 01-24-2000).]

 

[Lance E]

The silk may also be at an extremly fragile stage if the storage has been that great. When lacing it (take the time, it's worth it) do not put too much tension on, instead allow a few months to pass then get it back and slowly pull out the creases over time. I've got one customer that I go and see every month to fix this same problem, almost finished and looks great.
I recently saw a silk job laced by another framer that had been laced poorly and ripped out in many places, with such large work never turn the lacing at one point (hard to explain), all threads should be parallel(spellcheck?) not making "vees"