Mounting Paintings on Silk

zombieframer

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Aug 19, 2002
Posts
5
Loc
Cordova, TN
I have recently been presented with the opportunity to frame several paintings on silk.

The problem I face is that all but one of them have been painted to the raw edge of the silk. They are about 11"X 17".

These are of the tourist variety, but I refuse to mount them the way I have always seen them mounted (with adhesive transfer tape on the back side of the window mat). I want the sale, but I don't have the heart to do this.

Does someone out there have a better idea that will do no harm?
 
Welcome to the Grumble, Zombie.

Airport art is always such a problem, isn't it? The people who produce it are working on a shoestring and anything they spend on materials cuts a big chunk out of their profit.

Here's the procedure I use for difficult fabrics, it might work for you in this situation:

Baste the edges of artwork to unbleached muslin.
Stretch the muslin like any other fabric.
Cover the basting stitches with the mat.

I hope this helps.

Kit
 
Thanks for your response. I'd forgotten about this as an option. I'have mounted fabric this way before. In this case, I fear putting a needle through the fine silk. Might it put a run in the fabric? The image is so close to the edge I fear the thread may pull through and unravel the fabric. Have you or anyone else out there watching had success with this type of mounting with silk? Should I look for a certain type of needle for silk and a certain type of silk thread?
 
Welcome to the Grumble, Zombi! I recently sewed strips to a painting on silk. I used a small, blunt type needle (the kind I use to do cross stitch) because I believe it pushes the fibers out of the way instead of piercing them. I used silk embroidery thread. Since you are new to the grumble, do you know you can look in the archives for stuff? You use the search function at the upper right portion of the page. I think there is a lot of info on related type subjects. Good luck!
 
Hey Zombie (!)

This reply is cut and pasted from an earlier thread so it may sound boringly familar to others. I don't know if it will work for your situation, but it's another option to think about anyway. The basic idea is to mount the textile on a padded backboard using very thin insect pins at the edges.

-The backboard is made either from Tycore (acid-free honey-comb paperboard) or, you can make one yourself by laminating 4-ply rag or alpha cellulose matboard to Coroplast. I use double-sided tape, quarter inch 3-M#415 for this.

-The backboard is then covered with a light, spun-bond polyester padding - I use Insulate. Run the #415 tape around the front perimeter of the backboard, lay the Insulate on top, and trim the edges.

-The padded backboard is then covered with a facing fabric. Silk, polyester, cotton are all ok, but you want something with a bit of grip/texture, so avoid slippery fabrics. The facing fabric must be color fast (not all silks are!) and needs to be washed and well rinsed. The fabric is pressed, the edges wrapped to the reverse of the backboard and secured with #415. Trim and cover the raw edges with P90 or what-have-you. I also stitch the corners on the reverse - gives a nicer, sturdier finish.

-Position the textile on the backboard and tack the corners and edges with insect pins (science stores carry these). I usually use 00 black lacquer or stainless. The pin is slipped in place horizontally, (or parallel to the backing board) so that the shaft ends up in the Insulate, and only the head is touching the textile. Only the head is visible - pretty unobtrusive. (Don't try to shove the pin in vertically -perpendicular- through the backboard - oww!).

The texture of the backing fabric friction grips the mounted textile, and the pin tacking holds the textile in place. This won't work for very heavy pieces, but otherwise I've never had a problem with it.

Rebecca
 
I'm reviving this thread because I'm about to mount and frame a piece of painted silk fabric.
I like the idea of stitching strips of muslin to the edges of the silk to enable non-invasive mounting.

Question: Is silk embroidery thread the generally recommended thread to use to attach the muslin?

How big can the stitches be?

Also, why is it important to use "unbleached" muslin?




Z
 
Unbleached muslin must be washed carefully before it is used for framing. Three washings in washing soda and then three rinses in clear water (got that tidbit from Hugh Phibbs).
 
We have a piece of art on silk that cannot be mounted with in DCO fashion as it needs a mat. So no static mount. The customer wants the wavy lines under the title (looks like a poster printed on silk) to be dead straight, which is almost impossible without stretching the silk tightly which won't work in this case. The border is also uneven. He also wants no adhesives on the piece, or at lease he told my designer than he wants it to be "archival" but that straightness is the priority.

I did not take the order. I have a call in to him to discuss options. Also this is going in his frame, so there is not much wiggle room for redesign.

Suggestions? The piece is about 18 x 24, dark green, stained, and fraying all over the place on the edges with a border around the image and text below, all printed on this old piece of silk.

Short of pulling the thing every which way to stretch it, I am at a loss. Price of all this labor was not well figured into the job.
 
Ultra fine crepeline on the silk with no stitching, no pins. Batting under, and the mat covers the edges.

We tried other methods with a WWII painting on parachute silk, and nothing worked - the fabric was too weak. When we went with crepeline, it was perfect. Couldn't be seen.
 
Kirstie,
Since you're using a mat, this may be a good candidate (If you have enough material to work with?) for a tight fitting mount, such as the Newberry Method. It would be noninvasive and should help with holding a straight line (You can only do the best you can do, there are limitations with holding that line straight.) without glues, sewing, or pins.
 
Kirstie,
Since you're using a mat, this may be a good candidate (If you have enough material to work with?) for a tight fitting mount, such as the Newberry Method. It would be noninvasive and should help with holding a straight line (You can only do the best you can do, there are limitations with holding that line straight.) without glues, sewing, or pins.

Great idea, David. Unfortunately there is no border at all for the Newberry Method.
 
Ultra fine crepeline on the silk with no stitching, no pins. Batting under, and the mat covers the edges.

We tried other methods with a WWII painting on parachute silk, and nothing worked - the fabric was too weak. When we went with crepeline, it was perfect. Couldn't be seen.

I kind of get this, but don't understand how you would stretch the silk tight to make the currently wavy line under the printed text straight.

Alas, this job is due in a couple of days, and I may just have to give the customer a choice: Either we take a couple of stitches at the top under the mat and let the wavy line be wavy as the silk will naturally hang from the top, or we straighten the lines by using non-archival methods such as stitchery tape and pop it back in his frame hoping that it holds for a few years, or he pays more so that we can do this properly. We might be able to do a pin stretch, but I get very nervous about sticking pins in silk. Given a design choice, I would use a DCO in a heartbeat, floating the whole item on a padded fabric background and letting the edges show, topping with CC Acrylic, and building an appropriate sized frame. I wish I had been the one to take this order, but like all of you, I can't be everywhere at once.

Any other suggestions? I always find these problems interesting.
 
You may have to be firm with the customer:

1. wavy lettering
2. archival

Choose one.

No way in H- would I Newberry mount, sew muslin to the edge (you said it is raveling, which means that you would have to come in at least 1/2" to get to sturdy fabric, and even then it is problematic.

I would only use some sort of pressure mount (DCO, crepeline, or the like)

For what it's worth...
 
Kirstie,
This technique might work if the piece can be stitched to a support muslin piece. "Fraying all over the place" might render this method unworkable. If it can be stitched, you can get the piece pretty darn straight. Here is a link to the first photo; click through for the whole series.

https://www.facebook.com/2895642480...063.289564248093/322299123093/?type=3&theater

If it cannot take the stress of stitching/gentle stretching, then I would invoke the padded textile mount method. This is where the piece is gently rested on a (CP) fabric covered padded (batting) 8 ply mat board and covered directly with a piece of UV acrylic; I think this would be considered a DCO method. It is a "last resort" method for very tender textiles. I've done many of these and it looks very nice. But straightness would not be an option. It would have to be "straight enough." And matting would not be involved at all.

By the way, I've pin mounted many silk pieces with no heartache.

edie the pinsandneedles goddess
 
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