Hanging a tapestry

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framinzfun

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Aug 28, 2002
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eastern pa
A customer brought in a long tapestry (about 56 x 18). She wants to hang it on the wall using a decorative wire, no frame. It's apparently old, although she doesn't know how old. My initial thought was to sew a sleeve to hold a wooden dowel (sp?) and stitch the sleeve along the top edge of the tapestry... but I'm not sure if this is possible or if it's the best thing to do. Has anyone dealt with this before?
 
We have been supplying our customers with a "Cast Steel Spring Clip" from Lee Valley Tools. This is a modern copy of an old Victorian style hanging clip. They have an old fashioned look and hang easily through a hole in the back. We use them to hang rugs, tapestries, and other heavy fabric pieces that the customers want to hang but don't want to frame. Actually I don't really want to frame 8 x 10 foot Persian carpets anyway. A carpet this size needs about 6 clips. Go to www.leevalley.com and search for "spring clip".
 
How strong is it, how heavy is it, how precious is it, how clean is their air? These will all affect the framing/treatment proposal. Might be hung with hand stitched Velcro, might be lined, might need hanging tapes, might be mounted on fabric covered strainer, might be put behind glazing.

Rebecca
 
As far as hanging conditions, we mentioned to her that it may not be a good idea to hang it in the open air, but she insisted on doing it this way and says it will be handing in a stairway that doesn't get a lot of light. Also, it is not a very heavy material, not very rigid. But it is strong, and doesn't seem like it would tear easily.
 
If it's horizontal, then the sleeve/rod would work - remember to leave room for the rod in the sleeve or you'll get a bulge on the front.

Velcro will also work - machine stitch the fuzzy side to cotton twill tape, or to a doubled length of unbleached muslin, and hand stitch the twill or muslin to the textile.

If it's vertical you might need to hand stitch a couple of vertical tapes say 1/3 in from each side, using a zig-zag stitch, to help distribute weight or,

A lining hand stitched to the edges helps distribute weight too.

If you do the tapes or lining, find a place to hang the textile and pin/stitch while it's hanging - otherwise it's hard to get it to hang straight.

John's Lee Valley clips are pretty, but probably won't distribute the weight evenly - you could get sags. Don't know how strong the spring is- they might squash too much. Padding with ethafoam/fabric liners might help there.

Have fun!

Rebecca
 
You might consider also getting an acrylic rod to hang it on from Lois. Sew that pocket like Rebecca said, then put it on an acrylic rod to hang. Looks pretty good, and at least keeps it off of the wood.
 
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