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Puppiesonacid

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
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2,161
I have no idea how to post pictures on here anymore. i did one time, and now it seems its harder

i got a hand sewn with yarn cloth that is 36 long by 29 high.

i guess if someone can tell me how to post a picture i can show it....

I can't get the thing to flatten down... I believe the yarn is pulling it and making it hard to do so....

its to large for any kind of pin cushion thing, and even using the ez tac and pulling more wrinkles appear when i attached it to the mat.

there is a square around the middle picture of yarn ... about 2 inches thick blocking the middle from being able to be pulled at all. its like a entire stitched border around it...

i know without seeing it its hard to know, but i guess i am asking if there is a way to flatten it down... ie steam or something. i tried ironing it and it got me no where.

maybe im looking for, sometimes things can't be flattened... or... everything can be flattened if you do it right.

any expert cloth workers out there your input would be helpful.

its not on your standard cross stitch type cloth. im talking like a towel type backing. just smooth. thick cotton.
 
Huh. If you can't stretch out the wrinkles, they won't flatten either.

Usually when that happens, I add some batting and try to "puff" the wrinkles out instead.
 
well... im kind of floating it on a mat board... with 1/4 inch space between it and the glass...

not a lot of space for that kind of thing.... i mean... its very wrinkled. i would need to add a ton of batting to it to even touch it i believe.

but that helps when the customer comes back... at least i have somewhat of a second opinion
 
Puppiesonacid said:
i guess if someone can tell me how to post a picture i can show it.....
Click to expand...

To show a picture from photos saved on your computer.....

1. Picture within a post, go to an image hosting site such as this http://imgur.com/ from 'Browse' go to where your photos are (probably 'my pictures') select the photo and then go to 'continue' and copy the URL for 'message boards' - paste that in to your post.

2. Attached to a post - Go to 'manage attachments' in the post reply box, then 'browse' .... etc.
 
I have seen these boogers. There is nothing you can do to get it flat. It is what it is. You can get it less lumpy by stretching over batting, but that isn't going to do enough that you could call it successful.

Just tell the customer that it is part of its naive charm....
 
apparently when i told her i don't glue things down, but use ez tac to stick it to the mat so they can take it out when they want, she thought that meant i would be a magician and get it nice and flat and stretched out... according to her husband who came in and looked at it. yesterday. i even said i don't think i can get it very flat, but will try my best. which i did. don't know what language she was listening to, but when it comes to cloth things i always am very adimant about saying ill do what the fabric will let me do.

the husbands suggestion was to hang it in his bathroom for a month and let the steam work on it when they take showers.... ugh....

i don't think batting would do a lot for this thing... its very large and very very wrinkled. heck.. just pulling the corners straight caused most of the large wrinkle in the center...

My proposed plan is when she comes in, say... it is what it is. sign this paper saying that if i am to take it out so you can take it home to do whatever you want with it, and you bring it back and it is not flat... i am charging you XXX amount for the extra labor for taking it out and putting it back in. please sign here. :)
you think this is fair?
 
Is this it?
thing2.jpg
 
Those wrinkles are sewn in and you won't be getting them out any time soon.
They are a part of the finished piece and you need to convince the customer of that. It looks nice as it is because that is how it was made.
 
yeah... for some reason i don't know if they will go with that... Im thinking of changing my name to

Harry Potters Framing

Where Impossible things are not possible, we just charge like they are. :)
 
I agree... it is what it is .. the nature of the beast ... part of it's 'charm' ... there is no battling with it. You won't win. and possibly do some damage ... I think it looks good with the wrinkles .. the .. textureing .. the worldly charm.
 
Puppiesonacid said:
apparently when i told her i don't glue things down, but use ez tac to stick it to the mat so they can take it out when they want, she thought that meant i would be a magician and get it nice and flat and stretched out...
Click to expand...


Amazing how selective customers hearing can get when they only want to hear what works for them.:shrug:
 
Those wrinkles would be creases instead of waves if you tried to flatten it. Sometimes you have to be firm in your advice to customers. With a piece like that the design discussion should include that issue.
 
Since the most wrinkles are between the stitched areas, there is no way this will get flat, ever. The border around it prevents that. The wrinkles come from tight stitches; it's part of the art now.

Personally, from the photo; I like it the way it is.

I wouldn't want to charge extra for refit...your customer is not very happy right now, he/she will be even unhappier if you charge extra. You probably should have been cleared about the wrinkles during the design process. Yes, I know, some customers only hear what they want to hear. Addressing these issues a few times during the whole design process usually helps.

I think, in this case, I would have tried to get the customer in again, before closing the package and show "this is the best it's ever going to be and I think it looks absolutely charming the way it is".
 
Well... I did tell her i would iron it and get it as flat as possible. I told her its probably not going to lay flat because of the way it is. She paid me and i thought we had an understanding. I think i said this earlier. I pulled on part of it as hard as i could, and showed her how more wrinkles were coming up as i did so....

I just want her to show it to her grandma, and the grandma will love it and say that is how its is... I would hope...
 
Maybe it's inexperience with framing textile art; but from just looking at the picture I would have told this customer that it would never ever be flat.
Basically, the stitching caused an excess (puckering) of fabric, which doesn't go away as it doesn't have anywhere to go. Wrinkles or creases was the only option.

I like the wrinkles!
 
Ylva said:
I like the wrinkles!
Click to expand...

I do too darn it!!!

I really don't like fabric stuff... most people just realize whats possible and whats not. again. i did tell her it would probably be like it is... i guess i wasn't strong enough on that point. she did say she just wanted the corners square, which i accomplished. that doesn't mean flat to me.... in her world i guess it did. we will see... she doesn't come in for it till friday to look at it. maybe common sense will hit her :)

I did one for someone not to long ago... it was way way way way out of square, and it just hung crooked... top straight and down and lopsided. the people liked it because its the way it is. I told them it was going to hang funny, and they were like DUH!!!
 
I really do like fabric stuff, and do a lot of them.

One ready for pick up now is an embroidered cardinal, on a piece of completely ripped cotton.
Originally it was stitched onto denim shirt, which since then has completely ripped. So, the lady saved the piece with the cardinal on it, as it was done by her husband when he was 12 years old!

It was one of those 'what do I do with it' kind of pieces. She wanted to show the original fabric, rips and threads and all. I'll try to take a picture and post it later.
 
Well more to the story

The husband came by and wanted me to take it out so they could try to fix it.

The grandma said it could be ironed out...............

I showed him a list of all your reply's of how it can't be fixed....

He left and the wife is going to come by to look at it before any decisions are made...

so thanks for the replys... it saved me another day from doing something they may regret.
 
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