History and Philosophy - textile mounting

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Rebecca

Rebecca

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Feb 28, 2002
Posts
3,338
Loc
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"Stainless steel pins" was getting a bit long, and transforming into a whole new topic. I was really interested to read all of the different opinions on how to mount textiles, which lead me to wonder about the "Who, Where's and Why's" of the subject.

Framerguy in particular intrigued me by saying that his technique was instrumental in winning a prize. I suddenly realized that there must be commonly accepted standards for judging modern needleworks, and that the mounter/framer is an important partner in this. Oui? Non?

Now this is coming at the problem from an entirely different angle than I do. As a conservator, I have been trained to "respect the integrity of the original object" above all. So if a needlework (generally old) is "wonky" well, that is an essential part of the needlework. The "wonk" tells a story - that little Liza couldn't stitch, or this is how it came off the loom, etc.etc. Evidence of history and evidence of use. Leave it.

This lead to a funny story - a client brought me a Hutterite sampler to mount, probably 1930's or so. The ground fabric was hand woven, with side selvedges, and curved to one side -it wasn't square. The client and I spoke about it, I mentioned how neat that was - a loom and stitching thing - and said that I didn't think it should be squared. (I still don't by the way). She agreed, I mounted it, and all were happy. The next time I saw her, she said that her framer told her that she could fix it, and blocked and remounted it square. I was quite horrified, but figured it was the client's piece, out of my hands, end of story. Which really, it is.

The point of the parable being, not "who was right?" (me, of course!) but that the framer and I were operating from two entirely different premises. Not only that, but we didn't even know that the other premise existed! Well thanks to the Grumble, I now know about another premise, and I hope that you guys do too. And now that we know about them, does it add another element into all of our decision making? I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts.

Which leads me to another thought. When did your type of lacing and pinning start? It might just be that I'm not moving in the right circles, but I had never even heard about lacing until a framer (pre Grumble for me) mentioned it. And none of the older textiles I've unframed have been laced. Nor have I ever seen the pinning technique, which leads me to deduce that both are relatively new. I'm looking forward to seeing them on "tips" , but in the meantime, can anyone give me a brief history of their origins? How do these techniques fit in with the "needs of the modern needleworker"? Or is there any relation at all?

This is probably all too esoteric for a Friday evening,(I'm just about to head out to dinner) but I do hope that other Grumblers think about these questions and add their two cents.

Rebecca
 
And this is why we now know this forum to be of infinite value. We do so many things from habit, empirical experience, or personal preference. There can be two, three, maybe more methods which are acceptable, useful, even correct. I don't know history behind pinning or lacing, but find it arresting that Rebecca--who obviously is respected and learned in her field--does not either.
The thing is, she's interested in knowing: she whose knowledge and background we respect. (Seems to come down to ways to keep the darned stuff in place without hurting it.) I hope someone posts who does know the history of both. It was probably a simple engineering pragmatism.
 
I'm afraid that I can't add much to the history of either pinning or lacing but I LEARNED about the pinning technique from one of these ladies who had been doing cross stitch for years, designing her own patterns, laying out the color schemes, and implementing the image using threads from her own array of colors that had amassed over the years. I would compare it to an artist laying out an image and, using the different tubes of paint at her disposal, creating the final image from her perception of what the image should be.

I don't know beans about judging needleart but this lady did impress upon me that a portion of the judging hinged on the threads being pulled the same tension throughout the needleart which apparently is difficult to do. And one of the criteria for judging this quality is how straight the aieda runs in the finished package. I had a heck of a time getting the threads to line up straight using the lacing and adjusting with latex gloves routine, so I tried the pinning technique. It was difficult also until I was shown the "scoring" trick with the blunt needle to run a fold down the same thread from edge to edge. After that it was fairly easy.

I can mat and frame a piece of cross stitch and, when required, have the edge of the mat follow exactly along one thread of the aieda from corner to corner all the way around the image. It takes time and I am amply paid to get it that way and I don't do that for all cross stitch that I frame but I CAN do it when it is needed.

I would compare competition of cross stitch vs. the garden variety of general cross stitch to a custom car show vs. the average daily driven family vehicle. The competition in each case looks at minute details that really wouldn't matter on the average but count for more in competition.

I still lace some needleart projects but I prefer to pin cross stitch when I can because I find it easier to line up and mount the piece and there is no adjustment to make when you are done. I hated to have to go back and tweak here and pull there and retighten the lacing, part of my basic laziness I suppose.

Framerguy
 
This is The Forum of True Confessions, right?

At one time, maybe 15 years ago, counted cross stitch accounted for nearly 50% of the framing in my shop. We snickered and scowled at the framers that used tapes, spray adhesives or "sticky boards" to stretch needleart. Sometimes we would lace a particularly fine piece of embroidery, but the majority of the work we stretched was first pinned on a piece of fomecore (regular, usually) with t-pins, then stapled to the back of the board. Then the pins were removed. We not only did it this way, we taught others to do it this way. I thought <U>everybody</U> did it that way (except for members of the Embroiderer's Guild, who usually lace their own.)

I never heard of pinning (except as a temporary support) until I came to Grumble. Now it is my "default" technique, though I will spend some time practicing lacing as an alternative.
 
I imagine that pinning started around the time that framers started buying foam core. I have taken apart a few with rusted pins. These came from coastal areas with high humidity.

I've taken apart many laced pieces which were done nicely (read straight and neat here) but always on some sort of very acidic cardboard, paste board, cereal box or some other kind of sign. or advertisement. The pieces were always a brown color after being next to these boards for a long time. I would venture to say that lacing started about the time these boards were invented.

Those that I took apart were almost always things "from grandma's attic" after granny passed away. Often theses people knew they needed to do something but many people frankly don't have conservators in their budget and if they can't get a framer to do something, then they would it take home and wash it starch it and try to fix it themselves. I wish there was something framers could do to help perserve these all I can do in this case is pin or lace it and in some cases sew by hand it to another piece of linen and stretch that. But that is the easy part, the grime is still there and they just look nasty even if it does tell the history of the piece. Rebecca isn't it still a bad thing to reframe them when they are still soiled?

And speaking of grime...ugh...those hoop marks and hand prints on cross stitch and those dirty looking diagonal marks on needlepoint it just spoil the framing (grin).

I'm so glad you are with us Rebecca, we have so much to learn from you. It is a very frustrating area for framers. The nearest fabric and papers conservators to the Dallas/ Fort Worth, Tx. (who do work for the public) are in Austin, Tx. Our chapter is having an all day lecture from these two on Sunday, July 14, if anyone is interested. I'm sure there will be a fee for non PPFA members.
 
Yes, I have found the same thing with pins - probably a climate thing. I also had some lovely 00 stainless steel insect pins that I foolishly left near the sink - they got wet and rusted.

This is interesting about the old lacing you've had in - maybe its a regional thing, or maybe I just haven't had any in. Would you guess turn of the century?

Oh I know about the washing - I'm not THAT conservative that I think overall discoloration/stains looks good! My own experience is that there is often at least one color that is not waterfast. And since I'm working on other people's things, it makes me very nervous. I always use WA Paste - a neutral detergent without additives. For things with color I always spot test - dab and blot, dab and blot. And while warm/hot water obviously make the dirt come out faster, it also makes the color run faster. So I usually use lukewarm/cold.

Have to take child to Starbucks for muffin now - will continue when I get back!

Rebecca
 
Originally posted by Rebecca:

Have to take child to Starbucks for muffin now - will continue when I get back!

Rebecca
Click to expand...
Oh, life is sooooooo hard up in Canada. Down here we have to run to the Kryspy Kreme. (Is that spelled right? It doesn't look right, and it would just be criminal to mispell it!)

On the real topic - I can see now that I'm going to have to start another file to save stuff in...

Betty
 
Ah - muffin crisis averted!

BUT, unless the textile is white, or I know it has been washed before, or I know that the colors are waterfast, (or the piece is my own!) I don't immerse the item in a water bath - I clean it on the suction table (if I clean it at all, because there's always uneven shrinkage etc. to worry about too).

The suction table has a perforated top, and is hooked up to a wet/dry vacuum. I cover it with towelling and sponge the cleaning solution/rinse water through the textile. I change the towelling frequently and, if there is a problem, I can dry out the textile pretty quickly, with towelling or cotton flannelette top and bottom to wick up any dye bleeding etc. The suction table is my "insurance policy".

Another alternative might be to make friends with a receptive dry cleaner. I think that needlework that's in good condition, but soiled, could be hand stitched between muslin to protect it, and given the red carpet treatment, (for a price)at the dry cleaners. As I understand drycleaning, the clothers get thrown all together into a revolving drum, and the solvent is not necessairly filtered etc. after each run. But it may be possible to have them make special gentle runs with clean solvent. Something to ask the conservators about at your meeting!

It is nice to be able to clean dirty things, but if you can't, you can't - better to have an object dirty but intact, than clean and in tatters. When price is a problem I always tell people just to leave things - it won't self destruct, and its better than having to undo mistakes.

I know Susan May is very knowledgable about needlework - I hope she will add her thoughts here.

Rebecca
 
Hi Rebecca, this is an interesting thread.

What do you think of Quilt Soap which is also called Orvus (which is, if I remember correctly, a horse shampoo!)?

It's what was recommended to quilt owners for hand-washing textiles when I helped on the Ohio and North Carolina quilt projects.

Times have changed and perhaps this product isn't recommended anymore. I'd like to know because it's what I've been telling customers to use on dirty cross-stitches.
 
Hi Jana -

Yes, Orvus is still used - aka WA Paste - I think the WA stands for Washing Animals! It's sodium lauryl sulfate, with some added surfactants. Nice neutral pH,(making it safe for washable wool and silk) and no nasty additives like perfume or optical brighteners. I tried it on my dog, but it gave him itchy skin. Go figure.

Rebecca
 
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